Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Makes New Investment in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 97,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,862,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PCG. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in PG&E by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 1.5% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 47,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of PG&E by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 7,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in PG&E by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Stock Down 1.5 %

PCG stock opened at $16.29 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.55 and its 200 day moving average is $19.46. The firm has a market cap of $42.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.98. PG&E Co. has a one year low of $15.94 and a one year high of $21.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.58 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.81%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total transaction of $1,147,766.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,168,186.52. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on PG&E in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Monday, January 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.55.

About PG&E

PG&E Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers. It specializes in energy, utility, power, gas, electricity, solar and sustainability. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.