PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) CEO Patricia K. Poppe Sells 55,555 Shares

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total transaction of $1,147,766.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

PG&E Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PCG opened at $20.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.17. PG&E Co. has a 52 week low of $15.94 and a 52 week high of $21.72. The stock has a market cap of $54.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is a boost from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. PG&E’s payout ratio is 3.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PCG shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of PG&E in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.10.

Institutional Trading of PG&E

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in PG&E in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 84.7% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of PG&E by 77.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of PG&E during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in PG&E by 48.8% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

About PG&E

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.