Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $17.29 Million Stock Position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 856,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,700 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PG&E were worth $17,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PCG. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in PG&E during the second quarter valued at approximately $451,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PG&E by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,193,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,841,000 after purchasing an additional 13,196 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,651,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $116,141,000 after acquiring an additional 335,306 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of PG&E during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,565,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of PG&E by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 468,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,776,000 after acquiring an additional 30,542 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Price Performance

PG&E stock opened at $16.95 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $20.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.45. The firm has a market cap of $44.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. PG&E Co. has a 52 week low of $15.94 and a 52 week high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. 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 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. PG&E’s payout ratio is currently 7.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PCG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PG&E has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.64.

PG&E Profile

PG&E Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers. It specializes in energy, utility, power, gas, electricity, solar and sustainability. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.