Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $4.49 Million Position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 8.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 267,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,816 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in PG&E were worth $4,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of PG&E by 19.4% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 172,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after purchasing an additional 28,036 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP increased its holdings in PG&E by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 1,124,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,854,000 after buying an additional 3,826 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of PG&E in the 1st quarter valued at $165,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of PG&E by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 65,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 5,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in PG&E in the first quarter valued at about $1,109,000. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at PG&E

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total transaction of $1,007,720.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,515,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,889,471.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of PG&E stock traded down $0.05 on Monday, hitting $17.18. 9,715,232 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,692,664. PG&E Co. has a one year low of $14.71 and a one year high of $18.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $17.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.23.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.60 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 11.32% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on PCG shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of PG&E from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of PG&E from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.11.

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.