Allstate Corp Invests $892,000 in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 44,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $892,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in PG&E by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,358,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,132,964,000 after buying an additional 6,151,233 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 5.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,953,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,155,093,000 after purchasing an additional 5,191,463 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in PG&E by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,837,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $981,960,000 after purchasing an additional 536,914 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in PG&E by 6.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 30,255,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $598,142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,835 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in PG&E in the 4th quarter valued at about $591,625,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Price Performance

Shares of PCG opened at $17.19 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.99 and a fifty-two week high of $21.72. The company has a market cap of $45.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.94, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.65.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced 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 return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The business had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. PG&E’s payout ratio is 8.70%.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In other news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris acquired 6,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $100,051.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $232,770.24. This trade represents a 75.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total value of $532,368.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 183,635 shares in the company, valued at $3,006,104.95. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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