MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH Purchases 32,803 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 4.8%, now owning 721,455 shares, making it the firm's 25th largest position.
• Sempra Energy reported $0.89 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, but its revenue fell short of expectations at $3 billion.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share on October 15th, yielding approximately 3.0% annually.

MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 721,455 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 32,803 shares during the period. Sempra Energy accounts for approximately 1.5% of MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.11% of Sempra Energy worth $54,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,474,236,000 after purchasing an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter worth $192,130,000. PointState Capital LP purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter worth $154,369,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $160,357,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,647,990 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $331,681,000 after buying an additional 1,391,433 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $87.27 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $81.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $56.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is presently 62.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,554 shares of company stock valued at $2,976,117 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $93.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $83.27.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.

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