Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Purchases Shares of 227,831 PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 227,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,598,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in PG&E by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of PG&E by 61.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in PG&E by 746.0% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 4,819 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in PG&E in the 4th quarter worth approximately $111,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in PG&E in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $115,000. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total transaction of $532,368.77. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 183,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,006,104.95. This represents a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arno Lockheart Harris acquired 6,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.66 per share, for a total transaction of $100,051.74. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $232,770.24. This trade represents a 75.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of PCG stock opened at $17.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $46.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04. PG&E Co. has a 52-week low of $14.99 and a 52-week high of $21.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company’s 50 day moving average is $16.21 and its 200 day moving average is $18.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. PG&E had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The company had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. PG&E’s payout ratio is 8.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PCG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of PG&E from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho boosted their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim cut shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.05.

PG&E Profile

PG&E Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers. It specializes in energy, utility, power, gas, electricity, solar and sustainability. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.