Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 265,694 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,387,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 265,694 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.05% of PG&E worth $24,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PCG. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of PG&E in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PG&E during the 2nd quarter worth about $690,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in PG&E by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 208,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,642,000 after purchasing an additional 11,252 shares during the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in PG&E in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,640,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in PG&E in the second quarter worth about $537,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of PCG stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.70. 16,696,039 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,160,678. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $18.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. PG&E Co. has a 52-week low of $14.71 and a 52-week high of $19.84. The stock has a market cap of $51.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59 and a beta of 1.09.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. PG&E had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.76%. 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 company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PG&E

In other news, VP Stephanie N. Williams sold 38,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.32, for a total transaction of $707,170.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 19,114 shares in the company, valued at $350,168.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PCG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Mizuho boosted 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on PG&E from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.67.

About PG&E

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.