WINTON GROUP Ltd Sells 104,323 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• WINTON GROUP Ltd sharply cut its Sempra Energy stake by 93.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 104,323 shares and ending with 7,500 shares worth about $662,000.
• Insiders also trimmed holdings, including EVP Justin Christopher Bird and Director Pablo Ferrero, with insiders selling 8,567 shares over the last 90 days; insider ownership is now just 0.31%.
• Analysts remain moderately bullish on Sempra, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.67, while the company recently reported EPS in line with estimates and maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.6575 per share.

WINTON GROUP Ltd lowered its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 93.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 104,323 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 9.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 0.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 106.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,428,007 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $938,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In related news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 1,128 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total value of $109,066.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,091,598.08. The trade was a 4.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the director owned 15,423 shares in the company, valued at $1,380,821.19. This represents a 14.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,567 shares of company stock valued at $792,663. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SRE. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $102.67.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $91.15 on Thursday. The company's 50-day moving average is $93.34 and its 200 day moving average is $91.78. 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 market capitalization of $59.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.56. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $73.06 and a fifty-two week high of $101.04.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 8.20%. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 earnings per share 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. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 25th. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is currently 89.15%.

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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