Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 6,151,233 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 254,358,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,151,233 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.73% of PG&E worth $5,132,964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PCG. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 35,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,904 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 117,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 10,276 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of PG&E during the 3rd quarter valued at about $855,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in PG&E by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 91,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 12,226 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its position in PG&E by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 47,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Stock Down 1.7 %

PCG opened at $16.91 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.77. PG&E Co. has a twelve month low of $14.99 and a twelve month high of $21.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $6.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. PG&E’s payout ratio is 8.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PCG shares. Guggenheim cut shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of PG&E from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group cut shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.05.

Insider Activity

In other PG&E news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris bought 6,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.66 per share, for a total transaction of $100,051.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $232,770.24. This represents a 75.39 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total transaction of $532,368.77. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 183,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,006,104.95. This trade represents a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PG&E Profile

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.