Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Takes Position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY purchased a new stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 39,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $657,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PG&E in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Vima LLC acquired a new position in shares of PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of PG&E from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of PG&E from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.11.

PG&E Stock Up 0.3 %

PCG stock opened at $17.71 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.25. PG&E Co. has a 12 month low of $14.71 and a 12 month high of $18.95. The company has a market cap of $50.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

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

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.57%.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were 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 owns 1,515,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,889,471.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.