Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 1,275,100 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 87.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 174,900 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 1,275,100 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in PG&E were worth $3,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in PG&E by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 61.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of PG&E by 746.0% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,465 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 4,819 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of PG&E in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of PG&E by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,036 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on PG&E from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of PG&E in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of PG&E from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut shares of PG&E from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of PG&E from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PG&E presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

PG&E Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PCG traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $17.14. 10,347,598 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,424,787. The stock has a market cap of $45.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $16.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.28. PG&E Co. has a 52-week low of $14.99 and a 52-week high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $5.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.23 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. PG&E's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.70%.

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.