Alliancebernstein L.P. Raises Position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,336,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in PG&E were worth $47,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings 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 during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in PG&E by 61.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in PG&E by 746.0% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 4,819 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PG&E during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526 shares during the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PG&E

In related news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total value of $532,368.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 183,635 shares in the company, valued at $3,006,104.95. The trade was a 15.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arno Lockheart Harris acquired 6,389 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 14,864 shares in the company, valued at $232,770.24. This represents a 75.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Trading Down 4.6 %

NYSE PCG opened at $16.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.25 and its 200 day moving average is $18.59. 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.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. Research analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is 8.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PCG shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of PG&E from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group cut PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays lowered their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of PG&E in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E presently 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.