Principal Securities Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 990 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth approximately $209,000. Quaero Capital S.A. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Quaero Capital S.A. now owns 11,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $972,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 44.3% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $1,771,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA raised its stake in Sempra by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 740,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,970,000 after purchasing an additional 73,670 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SRE. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.20.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $86.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.75. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

Sempra Profile

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.