HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 144,348 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 41,154 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in PG&E were worth $2,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of PG&E by 5.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 176,839,426 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,496,115,000 after purchasing an additional 8,604,396 shares in the last quarter. King Street Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in PG&E in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,964,250,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in PG&E by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 104,846,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,072,824,000 after acquiring an additional 2,936,763 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 13.6% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 1,867,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 1.8% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,566,330 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $268,885,000 after acquiring an additional 246,164 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PG&E Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PCG traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.75. 11,149,119 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,341,678. The company has a market capitalization of $51.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $20.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. PG&E Co. has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from PG&E's previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. PG&E's payout ratio is 3.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of 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 initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.10.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,168,186.52. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.