Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stake in Sempra Energy $SRE

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,936,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 140,715 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $170,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 355 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Sempra Energy from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $104.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.67.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $91.75 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $92.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.98 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.56. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $73.06 and a 1 year high of $101.04.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 14.31%.The business’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 1,128 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,091,598.08. The trade was a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,300 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.13, for a total value of $304,029.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 22,870 shares in the company, valued at $2,107,013.10. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 7,028 shares of company stock valued at $645,873 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.