D.B. Root & Company LLC Purchases 1,423 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

D.B. Root & Company LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 44.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,423 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SRE. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Sempra by 8.9% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 120,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,172,000 after acquiring an additional 9,863 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department boosted its stake in Sempra by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 9,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $807,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Sempra by 2,591.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 15,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,150,000 after buying an additional 14,563 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Park Capital LLC increased its position in Sempra by 18.0% in the 2nd quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $422,597.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 1,925 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at $422,597.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.27.

Sempra Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of SRE opened at $78.99 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $49.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.74. Sempra has a 1 year low of $63.75 and a 1 year high of $83.68. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.70.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 22.31%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.