KBC Group NV Increases Stock Position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

KBC Group NV raised its position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 199.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 432,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 287,975 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in PG&E were worth $8,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of PG&E in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,153,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of PG&E in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,377,000. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of PG&E during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,122,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 808.5% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,243,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,703,000 after buying an additional 1,106,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in PG&E by 23.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,387,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,230,000 after acquiring an additional 265,694 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America initiated coverage on PG&E in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on PG&E in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.80.

PG&E Stock Performance

NYSE PCG opened at $21.04 on Friday. PG&E Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $21.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $20.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.87. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.13%.

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.