Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Raises Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 51.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 30,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,350 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.6% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its position in Sempra by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,890,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.2% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 4,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.20.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $81.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $85.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.44. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

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.