Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $140.68 Million Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,603,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 33,449 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $140,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 250.0% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.20.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $84.59 on Wednesday. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $53.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.