Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 87,581 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,815,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 87,581 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in PG&E were worth $30,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in PG&E in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in PG&E in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in PG&E in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total value of $1,007,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,515,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,889,471.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of PG&E from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of PG&E from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PG&E has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.11.

PG&E Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PCG traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $17.72. The stock had a trading volume of 9,906,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,601,811. PG&E Co. has a 1 year low of $14.71 and a 1 year high of $18.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $17.97 and its 200-day moving average is $17.23. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $51.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79 and a beta of 1.08.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.57%.

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.