Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 169,503 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 6.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,722,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 169,503 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in PG&E were worth $53,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PCG. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of PG&E in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in PG&E by 84.7% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of PG&E in the second quarter worth about $44,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 243.0% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 4,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 2,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PG&E during the second quarter worth about $74,000. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total transaction of $1,147,766.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,168,186.52. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Trading Up 2.1 %

PG&E stock opened at $19.82 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.52 and a 200-day moving average of $19.31. The company has a market cap of $51.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01. PG&E Co. has a one year low of $15.94 and a one year high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.58 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. PG&E’s payout ratio is presently 7.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.80.

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.