PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Shares Purchased by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 41.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,946,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,158,778 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $79,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in PG&E by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of PG&E by 61.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position in shares of PG&E by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 4,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in PG&E by 746.0% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 4,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in PG&E in the fourth quarter worth about $111,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of PG&E in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on PG&E from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of PG&E in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.13.

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PCG opened at $16.50 on Thursday. PG&E Co. has a one year low of $14.99 and a one year high of $21.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.70.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $5.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. Analysts anticipate that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.17%.

Insider Activity at PG&E

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

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.