Insider Buying: PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Director Acquires 6,389 Shares of Stock

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Director Arno Lockheart Harris bought 6,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $100,051.74. Following the purchase, the director now owns 14,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $232,770.24. The trade was a 75.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

PG&E Price Performance

NYSE:PCG traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $15.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 32,045,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,269,914. The business’s 50-day moving average is $17.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.10. The company has a market capitalization of $42.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.05. PG&E Co. has a 52-week low of $14.99 and a 52-week high of $21.72.

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

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. PG&E’s payout ratio is 8.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of PG&E by 1,233.6% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,690 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in shares of PG&E by 563.0% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,627 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of PG&E by 77.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PCG shares. Morgan Stanley cut PG&E from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $16.50 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.