Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 186,766 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 194.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 282,790 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 186,766 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in PG&E were worth $5,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PG&E by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 268,407,694 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,329,416,000 after purchasing an additional 21,731,911 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in PG&E by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 176,029,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,839,363,000 after purchasing an additional 4,044,631 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in PG&E by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 83,522,320 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,347,215,000 after purchasing an additional 18,180,432 shares during the period. Third Point LLC raised its position in shares of PG&E by 5.3% during the third quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 56,860,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $917,152,000 after buying an additional 2,860,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of PG&E by 21.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,270,915 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $294,710,000 after buying an additional 3,258,363 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PCG has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of PG&E from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of PG&E from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.89.

PG&E Price Performance

PCG stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.00. 9,904,975 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,624,148. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.88. 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 1-year low of $14.71 and a 1-year high of $18.32. The company has a market cap of $36.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 1.32.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $7.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.43 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 10.84% and a net margin of 9.24%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

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

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.