Centre Asset Management LLC Raises Position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Centre Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the period. Centre Asset Management LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. King Street Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of PG&E during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,964,250,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of PG&E by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 101,910,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,779,352,000 after buying an additional 14,998,472 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of PG&E by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 176,839,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,496,115,000 after buying an additional 8,604,396 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of PG&E by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,953,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,155,093,000 after acquiring an additional 5,191,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON lifted its position in PG&E by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 12,643,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $249,954,000 after acquiring an additional 3,958,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of PG&E stock traded up $0.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.25. 2,695,229 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,561,467. PG&E Co. has a 1 year low of $15.94 and a 1 year high of $21.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.41. 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 $52.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.98.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. PG&E’s payout ratio is currently 7.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on PG&E in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays cut their target price on PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total transaction of $1,147,766.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,168,186.52. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.