Bleakley Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 691 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in shares of PG&E by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 27,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 3,299 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in PG&E by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 7,598,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $137,009,000 after purchasing an additional 446,848 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in PG&E by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,987,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,057,000 after purchasing an additional 162,476 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in PG&E by 78.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 654,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,036,000 after purchasing an additional 288,280 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in PG&E by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 881,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,226,000 after purchasing an additional 66,364 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PG&E Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE PCG opened at $16.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04. PG&E Co. has a twelve month low of $14.71 and a twelve month high of $18.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.51 and its 200 day moving average is $16.83.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. PG&E had a return on equity of 10.84% and a net margin of 9.24%. The company had revenue of $7.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PCG. Barclays decreased their price target on PG&E from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised PG&E from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on PG&E in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.78.

PG&E 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.