Norges Bank Acquires New Holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Norges Bank bought a new position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 29,317,415 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $591,625,000. Norges Bank owned 1.12% of PG&E at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PCG. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in PG&E by 68.3% during 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 in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in PG&E by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 4,819 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of PG&E in the 4th quarter worth approximately $111,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of PG&E by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company's stock.

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of PCG stock traded up $0.18 on Wednesday, hitting $17.45. The company had a trading volume of 12,194,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,863,787. PG&E Co. has a twelve month low of $14.99 and a twelve month high of $21.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm has a market cap of $46.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.64.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. PG&E's payout ratio is 8.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PCG shares. UBS Group downgraded shares of PG&E from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Guggenheim lowered PG&E from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of PG&E from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.