Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Lowers Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its stake in Sempra Energy by 15.2% in Q4, selling 411,504 shares and ending the period with 2,303,372 shares worth about $203.4 million (≈0.35% of the company).
• Several large institutions (Vanguard, Capital International, State Street, JPMorgan, Invesco) increased their positions and institutional ownership stands at about 89.65%, while analysts hold a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $102.67 average target price.
• Insiders (Directors Richard J. Mark and Jennifer M. Kirk) bought shares recently, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.6575 ($2.63 annual, ~2.8% yield) after reporting a quarterly EPS beat of $1.28 vs. $1.12 expected.

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 15.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,303,372 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 411,504 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.35% of Sempra Energy worth $203,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,734,070 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,774,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,476 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 54,071,206 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,865,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,572,312 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,986,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,148,055,000 after purchasing an additional 606,101 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 106.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,428,007 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $938,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,419,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $937,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,984,409 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In related news, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 2,692 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $93.30 per share, for a total transaction of $251,163.60. Following the acquisition, the director owned 17,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,621,180.80. This represents a 18.33% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jennifer M. Kirk purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $93.44 per share, for a total transaction of $93,440.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $93,440. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979 and have sold 7,539 shares worth $706,906. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus raised Sempra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $104.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $108.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $102.67.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of SRE opened at $92.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.67. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $72.99 and a 1 year high of $101.04. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $95.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 13.27%.The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th were issued a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 19th. This is a boost from Sempra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is currently 95.29%.

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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