Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 129,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in PG&E by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 17,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in PG&E by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 45,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $817,000 after buying an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. grew its position in PG&E by 5.5% in the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 4.9% in the third quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lumbard & Kellner LLC grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC now owns 26,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised PG&E from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of PG&E from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.78.

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of PCG stock opened at $16.03 on Wednesday. PG&E Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.71 and a fifty-two week high of $18.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $34.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 1.32.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $7.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.43 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 10.84% and a net margin of 9.24%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. Analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. PG&E’s payout ratio is presently 3.81%.

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.