HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 1,283,524 Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors purchased 1,283,524 Sempra Energy shares worth approximately $119 million, acquiring a roughly 0.20% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 89.65% of Sempra’s stock.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $102, compared with the stock’s opening price of $83.91.
• Sempra reported quarterly EPS of $1.16, exceeding the $1.01 consensus estimate, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6575, equivalent to a 3.1% annualized yield.

HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,283,524 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $118,996,000. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Sempra Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 12.1% in the first quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 1,040 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 79.5% during the 1st quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 262 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 35,009 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,091,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 3,666 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 347 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In related news, EVP Caroline Winn sold 8,000 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.55, for a total transaction of $724,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,164 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,278,600.20. The trade was a 24.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets set a $102.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Truist Financial set a $96.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.00.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $83.91 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $54.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $88.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.82. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $78.97 and a one year high of $101.04.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.15. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 16.70%.The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. Sempra Energy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.100-5.700 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.800-5.300 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 24th will be issued a $0.6575 dividend. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 24th. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.23%.

Sempra Energy 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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