KBC Group NV Boosts Stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

KBC Group NV raised its holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 199.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 432,563 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 287,975 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in PG&E were worth $8,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in PG&E by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 16,165 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 2,982 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in PG&E by 8.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,994 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in PG&E during the first quarter valued at about $2,153,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in PG&E by 74.5% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,997 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in PG&E by 18.2% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 26,294 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 4,045 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company's stock.

PG&E Price Performance

Shares of PCG stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $21.04. The stock had a trading volume of 21,825,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,042,881. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.03. PG&E Co. has a one year low of $15.94 and a one year high of $21.51. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $20.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.89.

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

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. PG&E's payout ratio is 3.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on PCG. 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 target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.80.

About PG&E

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.