PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Holdings Cut by Capital Research Global Investors

Capital Research Global Investors decreased its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 83.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,918,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 66,735,916 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in PG&E were worth $216,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PCG. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.40.

PG&E Stock Performance

NYSE PCG traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $18.03. The company had a trading volume of 10,979,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,910,385. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.24. PG&E Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.71 and a fifty-two week high of $18.95. The stock has a market cap of $51.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 1.08.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. PG&E had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.