California Public Employees Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,843,477 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 136,825 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.26% of PG&E worth $138,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of PG&E by 68.3% in the 4th 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. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in PG&E by 61.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of PG&E by 746.0% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,465 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 4,819 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of PG&E during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of PG&E by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PG&E Stock Performance

NYSE PCG traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $16.46. 29,605,093 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,084,521. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The business's fifty day moving average price is $16.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.59. PG&E Co. has a 52 week low of $14.99 and a 52 week high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. PG&E had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The business had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. PG&E's payout ratio is 8.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PG&E

In other news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris purchased 6,389 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $100,051.74. Following the purchase, 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 at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total transaction of $532,368.77. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 183,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,006,104.95. The trade was a 15.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PCG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of PG&E in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lowered their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on PG&E from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lowered PG&E from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.05.

PG&E 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.