National Bank of Canada FI Sells 113,346 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

National Bank of Canada FI decreased its holdings in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,005,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 113,346 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in PG&E were worth $18,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in PG&E during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in PG&E in the third quarter worth $44,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PG&E during the third quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PG&E during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PG&E

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total value of $1,007,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,515,777 shares in the company, valued at $25,889,471.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PCG. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PG&E from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on PG&E in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price target on PG&E from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on PG&E from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.11.

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PCG opened at $17.73 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.70 and a 200-day moving average of $16.97. The firm has a market cap of $51.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.99. PG&E Co. has a twelve month low of $14.71 and a twelve month high of $18.32.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. PG&E had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 11.32%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.57%.

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.