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

Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,337,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 238,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in PG&E were worth $114,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 17,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 45,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 10.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of PG&E by 5.5% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 15,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of PG&E by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 20,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 999 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total transaction of $1,007,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PG&E Stock Performance

NYSE:PCG opened at $17.57 on Friday. PG&E Co. has a twelve month low of $14.71 and a twelve month high of $18.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.94.

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

PG&E Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

PG&E Company 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.