PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its position in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 5.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 162,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,678 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in PG&E were worth $2,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in PG&E by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 282,332,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,731,888,000 after acquiring an additional 5,635,693 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 126,126,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,113,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,931 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in PG&E by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 121,159,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,641,000 after purchasing an additional 5,066,183 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in PG&E by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 84,516,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,523,828,000 after purchasing an additional 993,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Third Point LLC grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 57,860,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,043,216,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total transaction of $1,007,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,515,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,889,471.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PCG has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PG&E presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.40.

PG&E Price Performance

NYSE PCG traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $18.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,930,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,334,084. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $47.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $17.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.23. PG&E Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.71 and a fifty-two week high of $18.95.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.86 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 11.76% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. Analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.57%.

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.