Sovran Advisors LLC Makes New $296,000 Investment in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,378 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 9.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,587,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,653 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,774,974,000 after buying an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 201.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,882,000 after buying an additional 414,406 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth $33,023,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 38.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,420,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $118,219,000 after acquiring an additional 393,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 76,205 shares of company stock valued at $6,558,347. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.20.

Sempra Stock Up 0.4 %

SRE stock traded up $0.33 on Friday, hitting $84.19. 3,603,492 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,681,857. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $84.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $53.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.78.

About Sempra

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.