Toronto Dominion Bank Buys 194,704 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 18.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,254,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 194,704 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in PG&E were worth $24,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in PG&E during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in PG&E by 84.7% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 77.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of PG&E in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PG&E by 243.0% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 4,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 2,863 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.10.

PG&E Price Performance

PCG opened at $19.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $20.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.24. PG&E Co. has a twelve month low of $15.94 and a twelve month high of $21.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The company has a market capitalization of $52.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The business 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 firm posted $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.13%.

Insider Activity

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total value of $1,147,766.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,168,186.52. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Profile

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.