Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 282,332,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,635,693 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.81% of PG&E worth $4,731,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in PG&E in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in PG&E during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in PG&E in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PG&E

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total value of $1,007,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,515,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,889,471.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PCG has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on PG&E in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of PG&E from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.11.

PG&E Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PCG traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $18.00. 9,903,249 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,109,433. The company has a market capitalization of $51.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. PG&E Co. has a 52-week low of $14.71 and a 52-week high of $18.95.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.60 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 11.32%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. PG&E’s payout ratio is 3.57%.

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.