LPL Financial LLC Grows Stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,073,103 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 85,081 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.08% of PG&E worth $41,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in PG&E by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,337 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in PG&E by 11.4% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 7,501 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in PG&E by 2.6% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarius Group LLC lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 11,038 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of PG&E stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $17.42. 28,627,754 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,938,791. The business has a 50-day moving average of $16.23 and a 200-day moving average of $18.63. PG&E Co. has a 1 year low of $14.99 and a 1 year high of $21.72. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $46.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04.

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, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31. The company had revenue of $6.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.29 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. PG&E's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PG&E news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris bought 6,389 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $100,051.74. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,864 shares in the company, valued at $232,770.24. The trade was a 75.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total transaction of $532,368.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 183,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,006,104.95. This trade represents a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on PCG shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of 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 dropped their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays cut their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered PG&E from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.05.

PG&E Company 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.