BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Reduces Holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp decreased its holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 338,791 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 49,406 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in PG&E were worth $6,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in PG&E in the 3rd quarter valued at $353,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in PG&E by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 27,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in PG&E by 143.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 45,625 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 26,887 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in PG&E by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 15,572,325 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $307,865,000 after buying an additional 1,867,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in PG&E during the 3rd quarter worth $4,321,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In related 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PG&E Price Performance

Shares of PCG traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $20.85. The company had a trading volume of 75,173,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,217,393. The company has a market capitalization of $54.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01. PG&E Co. has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $21.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

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

PG&E Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.025 dividend. This is a positive change from PG&E's previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. PG&E's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PCG. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of PG&E in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of PG&E in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine 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 a consensus target price of $23.10.

PG&E 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.