PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Stock Position Lowered by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 463,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,789 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in PG&E were worth $9,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 5.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,953,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,155,093,000 after buying an additional 5,191,463 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in PG&E by 259.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 61,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 44,650 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in PG&E during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,122,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 808.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,106,200 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 23.7% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,387,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,230,000 after purchasing an additional 265,694 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

PG&E Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PCG opened at $19.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.26. PG&E Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. PG&E had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on PG&E in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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, Barclays upped their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PG&E currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.10.

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.