Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $38.70 Million Stock Position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,917,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,348 shares during the period. PG&E makes up about 0.8% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in PG&E were worth $38,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in PG&E by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 176,839,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,496,115,000 after acquiring an additional 8,604,396 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in PG&E by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,953,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,155,093,000 after acquiring an additional 5,191,463 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in PG&E by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 104,846,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,072,824,000 after acquiring an additional 2,936,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in PG&E by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,837,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $981,960,000 after acquiring an additional 536,914 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in PG&E by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 30,255,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $598,142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822,835 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In related news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris bought 6,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.66 per share, for a total transaction of $100,051.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total transaction of $532,368.77. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 183,635 shares in the company, valued at $3,006,104.95. This represents a 15.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PCG opened at $17.20 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.00. PG&E Co. has a 1 year low of $14.99 and a 1 year high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The business had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PCG. Morgan Stanley cut shares of PG&E from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $20.00 to $16.50 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim cut shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.23.

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.