Swiss National Bank Reduces Holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,736,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 290,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.22% of PG&E worth $115,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in PG&E by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in PG&E by 61.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its position in PG&E by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in PG&E by 746.0% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 4,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in PG&E during the 4th quarter worth $111,000. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PG&E Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE PCG opened at $16.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. PG&E Co. has a 52 week low of $14.99 and a 52 week high of $21.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $6.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.70%.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In other PG&E news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total transaction of $532,368.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 183,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,006,104.95. This trade represents a 15.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arno Lockheart Harris bought 6,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $100,051.74. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,864 shares in the company, valued at $232,770.24. This represents a 75.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PCG. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of PG&E from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $16.50 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of PG&E in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.23.

About PG&E

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.