Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Acquires New Stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 97,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,862,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of PG&E by 68.3% in 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 in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in PG&E by 61.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PG&E by 77.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PG&E in the second quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 98.5% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PG&E

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PCG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PG&E in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.55.

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of PCG stock opened at $16.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $42.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.46. PG&E Co. has a one year low of $15.94 and a one year high of $21.72.

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

PG&E Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.81%.

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.