Advisory Services Network LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Advisory Services Network LLC cut its holdings in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,202 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PG&E by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of PG&E by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC raised its stake in shares of PG&E by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 11,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in PG&E by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 15,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PCG shares. UBS Group downgraded PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of PG&E from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.05.

PG&E Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE PCG opened at $16.93 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $16.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.42. PG&E Co. has a 12 month low of $14.99 and a 12 month high of $21.72. 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 $45.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, 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, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The company had revenue of $6.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PG&E

In related news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 183,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,006,104.95. This trade represents a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arno Lockheart Harris acquired 6,389 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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. The trade was a 75.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About PG&E

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.