Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Boosts Stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,188,119 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 603,222 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.20% of PG&E worth $93,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in PG&E by 44.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 337,858 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,034,000 after acquiring an additional 103,767 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of PG&E by 86.2% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 146,663 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 67,898 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of PG&E by 190.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 183,755 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,194,000 after purchasing an additional 120,468 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of PG&E by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 30,636 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC purchased a new position in PG&E in the 1st quarter valued at about $154,000. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded PG&E from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on PG&E from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on PG&E in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.78.

PG&E Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE PCG traded up $0.41 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.44. 11,312,355 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,029,968. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.83. PG&E Co. has a 12-month low of $14.71 and a 12-month high of $18.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.66 and a beta of 1.32.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $7.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.43 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 10.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. PG&E's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.81%.

About PG&E

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.