Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 94,818 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 34.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 371,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 94,818 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in PG&E were worth $7,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PCG. King Street Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in PG&E in the second quarter valued at about $1,964,250,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in PG&E by 17.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 101,910,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,779,352,000 after acquiring an additional 14,998,472 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in PG&E in the second quarter valued at about $56,679,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in PG&E by 2,850.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,946,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,880,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in PG&E by 234.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,112,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,788 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on PCG shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America started coverage on PG&E in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.80.

PG&E Price Performance

Shares of PCG opened at $21.19 on Tuesday. PG&E Co. has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $21.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.02. The firm has a market cap of $55.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.03.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is 3.13%.

PG&E Company 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.