Quantbot Technologies LP Buys 56,370 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 85.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 121,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,370 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in PG&E were worth $2,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 8.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 268,407,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,329,416,000 after purchasing an additional 21,731,911 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 116,093,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,093,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,681,566 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 84,516,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,523,828,000 after purchasing an additional 993,923 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC raised its stake in shares of PG&E by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 57,860,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,043,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackstone Inc. grew its holdings in PG&E by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 48,578,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $875,878,000 after purchasing an additional 500,000 shares during the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total transaction of $1,007,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,515,777 shares in the company, valued at $25,889,471.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PCG. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, June 10th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of PG&E from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.11.

PG&E Stock Performance

PG&E stock traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $18.13. 14,169,717 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,656,458. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 1.08. PG&E Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.71 and a fifty-two week high of $18.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.99.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. PG&E had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 11.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.57%.

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.