Metis Global Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 159,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,403 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $3,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in PG&E by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 227,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,600,000 after buying an additional 88,118 shares during the last quarter. Terril Brothers Inc. purchased a new stake in PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at about $207,000. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at about $206,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP purchased a new stake in PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,039,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,175,000. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PG&E Stock Up 2.8 %

PG&E stock opened at $16.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $43.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.99. PG&E Co. has a 52 week low of $14.99 and a 52 week high of $21.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $17.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.03. 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 (NYSE:PCG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. PG&E’s payout ratio is currently 8.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PCG shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut PG&E from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $16.50 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at PG&E

In other PG&E news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris acquired 6,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $100,051.74. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $232,770.24. This trade represents a 75.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total value of $1,147,766.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.