National Pension Service Trims Stock Position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

National Pension Service lessened its holdings in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,695,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 197,912 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.10% of PG&E worth $54,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter valued at $6,654,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of PG&E by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 67,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 18,585 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of PG&E in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,862,000. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PG&E by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 59,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,207,000 after purchasing an additional 14,786 shares during the period. Finally, TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PG&E by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 30,737 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In other PG&E news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris bought 6,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $100,051.74. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,864 shares in the company, valued at $232,770.24. This trade represents a 75.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total transaction of $1,147,766.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PG&E Trading Down 0.6 %

PG&E stock opened at $15.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $42.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.00. PG&E Co. has a 1 year low of $14.99 and a 1 year high of $21.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.07.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. PG&E’s payout ratio is currently 8.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PCG. Morgan Stanley cut shares of PG&E from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $16.50 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim cut shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.23.

PG&E Company 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.