LPL Financial LLC Purchases 85,081 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

LPL Financial LLC grew its position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,073,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 85,081 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $41,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PCG. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in PG&E during the fourth quarter worth $33,669,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 207,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,181,000 after buying an additional 68,600 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. bought a new position in shares of PG&E in the 4th quarter valued at about $139,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PG&E by 326.0% in the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 134,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 102,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in PG&E by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 13,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In other news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris purchased 6,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.66 per share, for a total transaction of $100,051.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,770.24. This trade represents a 75.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was 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 approximately $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 currently owned by company insiders.

PG&E Price Performance

PG&E stock opened at $16.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.05. PG&E Co. has a 52 week low of $14.99 and a 52 week high of $21.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $16.21 and a 200-day moving average of $18.68.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The company had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PCG shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PG&E from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Guggenheim cut shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.05.

PG&E Company 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.