Graham Capital Management L.P. Purchases New Stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 41,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $830,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in PG&E by 8.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,692,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,541,000 after acquiring an additional 420,133 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in PG&E by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 474,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,566,000 after acquiring an additional 38,590 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in PG&E by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 24,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PG&E by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 4,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at about $950,000. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE:PCG opened at $16.97 on Wednesday. PG&E Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.99 and a fifty-two week high of $21.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.99.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.02). PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The business had revenue of $5.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on PG&E from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group cut PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of PG&E in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.13.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In related news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,519 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.30, for a total value of $562,578.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 151,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,614,306.80. This trade represents a 17.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arno Lockheart Harris bought 6,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.66 per share, for a total transaction of $100,051.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,864 shares in the company, valued at $232,770.24. The trade was a 75.39% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is owned by 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.