Balentine LLC Sells 1,542 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Balentine LLC trimmed its holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,542 shares during the period. Balentine LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PCG. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in PG&E in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in PG&E during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PG&E during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of PG&E in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PG&E

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total transaction of $1,007,720.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,515,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,889,471.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PCG. StockNews.com raised PG&E from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PG&E from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on PG&E in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on PG&E from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.44.

PG&E Price Performance

NYSE:PCG opened at $18.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $53.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 1.26. PG&E Co. has a 52 week low of $14.71 and a 52 week high of $18.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.11.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. PG&E had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 11.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. PG&E’s payout ratio is currently 3.57%.

PG&E 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.