Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its Sempra Energy stake by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 1.74 million more shares and bringing its holding to 12.16 million shares worth about $1.07 billion.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with several major funds including Vanguard, Capital International Investors, State Street, and Geode also adding to positions; overall, institutions and hedge funds own about 89.65% of the stock.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed but constructive, with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and average price target of $102.67, while Sempra also reported quarterly EPS in line with estimates and reaffirmed multi-year guidance.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,163,523 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,735,516 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 1.86% of Sempra Energy worth $1,073,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,008,476 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 9.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,572,312 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 606,101 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 0.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 116,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 40.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,419,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $937,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,984,409 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Sempra Energy from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $104.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Sempra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $102.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Pablo Ferrero sold 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.53, for a total value of $232,778.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,380,821.19. This represents a 14.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,539 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.38, for a total value of $146,789.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,895.54. The trade was a 24.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,567 shares of company stock valued at $792,663. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $90.78 on Wednesday. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $73.06 and a 1-year high of $101.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $93.45 and a 200-day moving average of $91.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $59.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.56.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.51. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 14.31%.The company had revenue of $3.66 billion during 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. The company's revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

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

About Sempra Energy

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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