Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Buys 1,771 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,771 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PCG. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in PG&E by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 47,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 5,117 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of PG&E by 23.7% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,387,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,230,000 after acquiring an additional 265,694 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of PG&E during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in PG&E in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $690,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in PG&E by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 208,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,642,000 after acquiring an additional 11,252 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PCG. Citigroup lifted their target price on PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on PG&E from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.20.

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PCG opened at $20.43 on Thursday. PG&E Co. has a 12-month low of $14.71 and a 12-month high of $20.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.24 and a 200 day moving average of $17.60.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. PG&E had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.76%. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Stephanie N. Williams sold 38,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.32, for a total transaction of $707,170.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $350,168.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.