Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Boosts Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 216.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 20,898 shares valued at about $1.85 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with Sempra holding a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $102.67, though one firm recently downgraded the stock to sell.
• Sempra reported quarterly EPS of $1.51 in line with expectations, announced a $0.6575 per share quarterly dividend, and said it expects fiscal 2026 and 2027 EPS growth in the $4.87-$5.37 and $5.10-$5.70 ranges, respectively.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 216.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,898 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,300 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 74.6% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 391 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 88.8% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 406 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the third quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SRE. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sempra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $102.67.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

SRE opened at $91.54 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.96. The firm has a market cap of $59.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.03, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.60. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $73.06 and a twelve month high of $101.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.51. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 8.20%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Sempra Energy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.100-5.700 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.870-5.370 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 25th. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.15%.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total transaction of $451,049.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,613,304.82. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.13, for a total transaction of $304,029.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,870 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,107,013.10. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979 and sold 13,439 shares worth $1,243,713. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

Sempra Energy is a San Diego–based energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates businesses delivering electricity and natural gas. Its operations include regulated utility services that provide electric and gas distribution to residential, commercial and industrial customers, as well as non‑regulated infrastructure businesses that develop and manage large-scale energy assets.

The company's product and service portfolio spans electricity and natural gas delivery, transmission and storage, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, power generation and electric transmission projects.

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