Empower Advisory Group LLC Grows Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,071,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,821 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Sempra worth $93,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,612,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 14.6% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Sempra by 2.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 77,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,523,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in Sempra during the third quarter valued at $247,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 valued at $6,558,347 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $84.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $84.61 and a 200 day moving average of $84.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.20.

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.