ING Groep NV Acquires New Shares in Sempra Energy $SRE

ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 19,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,737,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,734,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,774,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,476 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 9.2% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 54,071,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,865,115,000 after acquiring an additional 4,572,312 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,986,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,148,055,000 after acquiring an additional 606,101 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,256,592,000 after acquiring an additional 116,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 106.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,428,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $938,325,000 after acquiring an additional 5,374,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Pablo Ferrero sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.53, for a total value of $232,778.00. Following the sale, the director owned 15,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,380,821.19. This represents a 14.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 1,128 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total value of $109,066.32. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 21,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,091,598.08. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 8,567 shares of company stock worth $792,663 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE:SRE opened at $90.78 on Wednesday. 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 cap of $59.34 billion, a PE ratio of 30.77, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.56. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $73.06 and a 52-week high of $101.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 14.31%.Sempra Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend payout ratio is 89.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (up from $95.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. 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 report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.67.

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.