Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich Decreases Stock Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Munich Reinsurance reduced its Sempra Energy stake by 24% in the first quarter, selling 175,681 shares and leaving it with 555,569 shares worth about $54 million.
• Insider selling continued, with executives Diana L. Day and Caroline Ann Winn both trimming holdings; insiders sold 13,900 shares over the last 90 days.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive despite one downgrade: Sempra has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $103.31, while the stock recently traded at $95.17 and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6575 per share.

Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich cut its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 24.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 555,569 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 175,681 shares during the quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich owned about 0.09% of Sempra Energy worth $53,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 52.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,008 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 6,196 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in Sempra Energy by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 53,512 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,819,000 after purchasing an additional 15,474 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 6.2% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,699 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 78.5% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 771 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 80.0% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 423,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,072,000 after buying an additional 188,131 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,300 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.55, for a total transaction of $724,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,164 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,278,600.20. This trade represents a 24.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,900 shares of company stock worth $1,261,207. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Sempra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen started coverage on Sempra Energy in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial set a $104.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $103.31.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $95.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $62.21 billion, a PE ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.56. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $91.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.07. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $73.18 and a one year high of $101.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.69.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.51. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 8.20%. The company's revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm 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 analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 25th will be issued a $0.6575 dividend. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 25th. Sempra Energy's dividend 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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