ProShare Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 556,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 29,745 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in PG&E were worth $11,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its holdings in shares of PG&E by 563.0% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of PG&E by 61.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in shares of PG&E by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 4,271 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 825 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of PG&E by 746.0% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,465 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 4,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter worth approximately $111,000. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total transaction of $532,368.77. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 183,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,006,104.95. This trade represents a 15.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arno Lockheart Harris purchased 6,389 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $100,051.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $232,770.24. The trade was a 75.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on PCG shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of PG&E in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of PG&E from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of PG&E from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of PG&E in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.71.

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of PCG stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $17.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,312,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,447,742. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.06 and a 200 day moving average of $17.89. The stock has a market cap of $47.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. PG&E Co. has a 12-month low of $14.99 and a 12-month high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.23 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. PG&E's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.17%.

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.