Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 708,890 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs cut its Sempra Energy stake by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 708,890 shares and leaving it with 4,489,123 shares valued at about $396.3 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with Sempra carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $102.67, despite one recent downgrade to sell.
• Sempra reported mixed quarterly results, meeting EPS expectations at $1.51 but missing revenue estimates, while also reaffirming forward guidance and announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.6575 per share.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,489,123 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 708,890 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.69% of Sempra Energy worth $396,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Innovations LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $10,289,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 530,945 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,877,000 after acquiring an additional 35,441 shares in the last quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $16,629,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 30,482 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellevest Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 7,813 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Sempra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Sempra Energy from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $104.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.67.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $90.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.03 billion, a PE ratio of 30.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.80. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $73.06 and a one year high of $101.04.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. 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. Research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 25th will be issued a $0.6575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 25th. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is currently 89.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Pablo Ferrero sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 15,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,380,821.19. The trade was a 14.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.13, for a total transaction of $304,029.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,870 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,107,013.10. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders purchased 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979 and sold 13,439 shares valued at $1,243,713. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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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