Jennison Associates LLC Buys 78,550 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 0.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,902,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,550 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $249,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PCG. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 7,598,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $137,009,000 after acquiring an additional 446,848 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in PG&E by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,136,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,493,000 after purchasing an additional 182,279 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in PG&E by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 922,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,639,000 after purchasing an additional 76,178 shares in the last quarter. Crestline Management LP lifted its position in PG&E by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 578,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,426,000 after buying an additional 183,767 shares during the period. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of PG&E by 379.0% during the 4th quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 76,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after buying an additional 60,525 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PG&E

In other news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 1,515,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,889,471.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PCG traded down $0.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $17.18. 9,700,260 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,692,665. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.23. PG&E Co. has a 52-week low of $14.71 and a 52-week high of $18.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 1.08. 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 (NYSE:PCG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. PG&E’s payout ratio is 3.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.