Legal & General Group Plc Has $551.82 Million Stake in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its Sempra Energy stake by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, but still held 6.25 million shares valued at about $551.8 million.
• Sempra reported Q1 earnings of $1.51 per share, matching analyst expectations, though revenue of $3.66 billion came in below estimates and fell 3.9% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6575 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 2.8%, while Wall Street maintains a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $102.67.

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,250,068 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 53,882 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.96% of Sempra Energy worth $551,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 6,911 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,587 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 5,191 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 9,681 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silvia Mccoll Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Silvia Mccoll Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $799,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Sempra Energy stock opened at $92.89 on Tuesday. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $73.06 and a 12 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. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $94.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.96. The company has a market cap of $60.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.49, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.60.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.51. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 14.31%.The business had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. Sempra Energy's revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 25th will be paid a $0.6575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 25th. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 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 on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.53, for a total transaction of $232,778.00. Following the sale, the director owned 15,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,380,821.19. The trade was a 14.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares in the company, valued at $3,613,304.82. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979 and have sold 13,439 shares valued at $1,243,713. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SRE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Sempra Energy from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Truist Financial set a $104.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Argus upgraded Sempra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $102.67.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SRE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.