Sovran Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 3,378 Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 201.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,882,000 after purchasing an additional 414,406 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,023,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 38.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.20.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $82.95 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $52.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.62. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 76,205 shares of company stock valued at $6,558,347. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.