200,124 Shares in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Purchased by Wakefield Asset Management LLLP

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 200,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,039,000. PG&E makes up 1.4% of Wakefield Asset Management LLLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in PG&E by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in PG&E by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PG&E by 98.5% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 2,154 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 32.9% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PG&E by 746.0% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 4,819 shares during the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PG&E Price Performance

PG&E stock opened at $15.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.99. PG&E Co. has a 1 year low of $14.99 and a 1 year high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $6.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. PG&E’s payout ratio is 8.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PCG. Barclays dropped their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of PG&E in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley downgraded PG&E from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $16.50 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.23.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In related news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris acquired 6,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $100,051.74. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 14,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,770.24. This represents a 75.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total value of $1,147,766.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,168,186.52. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About PG&E

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.