PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,116,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 681,369 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.65% of PG&E worth $346,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of PG&E by 65.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,054 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $996,000 after buying an additional 22,548 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in PG&E by 28.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 20,696 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 4,531 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in PG&E by 9.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 35,686 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 3,084 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in PG&E by 77.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 29,898 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PCG shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays upped their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on PG&E in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.10.

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of PCG stock traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $19.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,466,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,341,678. The stock has a market cap of $51.65 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $20.52 and a 200 day moving average of $19.25. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.58 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.11%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from PG&E's previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. PG&E's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PG&E

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.