QRG Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

QRG Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 182,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,936 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in PG&E were worth $3,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in PG&E by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the period. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of PG&E by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 47,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in PG&E by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of PG&E by 11.4% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 7,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in PG&E by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris bought 6,389 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.66 per share, for a total transaction of $100,051.74. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 14,864 shares in the company, valued at $232,770.24. This trade represents a 75.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

PG&E Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE:PCG opened at $16.33 on Friday. PG&E Co. has a 1-year low of $14.99 and a 1-year high of $21.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $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. The firm has a market capitalization 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 (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. PG&E had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The firm had revenue of $6.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded PG&E from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $16.50 in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group cut their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.23.

PG&E Company 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.