Balentine LLC Sells 1,542 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Balentine LLC lessened its stake in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,542 shares during the quarter. Balentine LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $137,009,000 after purchasing an additional 446,848 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of PG&E by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 922,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,639,000 after buying an additional 76,178 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,987,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,057,000 after buying an additional 162,476 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew 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 valued at $14,226,000 after acquiring an additional 66,364 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in PG&E during the fourth quarter valued at $1,775,000. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total transaction of $1,007,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,515,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,889,471.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Mizuho increased their target price on PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com upgraded PG&E from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of PG&E from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.44.

PG&E Price Performance

PG&E stock opened at $18.73 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The stock has a market cap of $53.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.11. PG&E Co. has a 12-month low of $14.71 and a 12-month high of $18.95.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 11.32%. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. PG&E’s payout ratio is 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.