Swiss National Bank Acquires 238,700 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,337,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 238,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.24% of PG&E worth $114,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in PG&E in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in PG&E in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in PG&E in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PG&E during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in PG&E in the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Price Performance

NYSE:PCG opened at $17.57 on Friday. 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 $18.32. The stock has a market cap of $37.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.94.

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

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. PG&E’s payout ratio is 3.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,515,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,889,471.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PCG shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PG&E from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on PG&E in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on PG&E from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of PG&E from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.11.

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.