California Public Employees Retirement System Grows Stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 50.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,754,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,936,859 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.22% of PG&E worth $103,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in PG&E in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in PG&E during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in PG&E by 470.6% during the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 2,014 shares during the last quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in PG&E during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PG&E during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PCG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on PG&E from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded PG&E from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on PG&E in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on PG&E from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PG&E presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.89.

PG&E Price Performance

PCG stock opened at $16.96 on Wednesday. PG&E Co. has a 52-week low of $14.71 and a 52-week high of $18.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15 and a beta of 1.32.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. PG&E had a return on equity of 10.84% and a net margin of 9.24%. The firm had revenue of $7.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. PG&E’s payout ratio is currently 3.81%.

PG&E Company Profile

PG&E Corporation, through its subsidiary, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, engages in the sale and delivery of electricity and natural gas to customers in northern and central California, the United States. It generates electricity using nuclear, hydroelectric, fossil fuel-fired, fuel cell, and photovoltaic sources.