Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 55,601 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,632,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 55,601 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $158,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 52.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 6,196 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 40.7% during the first 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. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 6.2% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 78.5% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 80.0% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 423,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,072,000 after purchasing an additional 188,131 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,300 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 22,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,107,013.10. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,380,821.19. The trade was a 14.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 13,900 shares of company stock valued at $1,261,207 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $93.36 on Wednesday. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $73.85 and a 12-month high of $101.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $91.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.24. The firm has a market cap of $61.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.65, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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. Equities research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 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, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 25th will be issued a $0.6575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 25th. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 89.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SRE. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Truist Financial set a $104.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.15.

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.