Capital Innovations LLC Buys Shares of 116,533 Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Capital Innovations LLC initiated a new stake in Sempra Energy, buying 116,533 shares worth about $10.3 million in the fourth quarter. The position now represents 2.9% of the firm's holdings.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 89.65% of Sempra’s stock. Several major investors, including Vanguard, Capital International Investors, and JPMorgan, also increased their positions recently.
• Analysts currently view Sempra Energy as a Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $102.67. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6575 per share, implying a 2.9% yield.

Capital Innovations LLC bought a new stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 116,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,289,000. Sempra Energy makes up 2.9% of Capital Innovations LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,734,070 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,774,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,476 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 9.2% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 54,071,206 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,865,115,000 after acquiring an additional 4,572,312 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,986,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,148,055,000 after acquiring an additional 606,101 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,298,845 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,256,592,000 after acquiring an additional 116,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 106.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,428,007 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $938,325,000 after acquiring an additional 5,374,277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.67.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Pablo Ferrero sold 2,600 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.53, for a total value of $232,778.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,380,821.19. The trade was a 14.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,300 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.13, for a total transaction of $304,029.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 22,870 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,107,013.10. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979 and sold 13,439 shares valued at $1,243,713. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $89.40 on Wednesday. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $73.06 and a twelve month high of $101.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.85. The company has a market capitalization of $58.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 8.20%. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Sempra Energy's quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 25th will be paid a $0.6575 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 89.15%.

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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