Portfolio Design Labs LLC Has $2.20 Million Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC grew its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,924 shares during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter worth approximately $33,023,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Sempra by 633.4% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 25,838 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Sempra by 8.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,695,000 after purchasing an additional 278,183 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 1.9% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,865,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the third quarter valued at approximately $675,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SRE. Barclays reduced their price objective on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. 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 objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.20.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock opened at $83.40 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $85.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.58. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 76,205 shares of company stock worth $6,558,347 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Company 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.