Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 35.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,720 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 24,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 1,591 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in PG&E by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 474,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,566,000 after acquiring an additional 38,590 shares during the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in PG&E by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 189,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centre Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of PG&E by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 14,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PG&E Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of PG&E stock opened at $16.86 on Thursday. PG&E Co. has a one year low of $15.94 and a one year high of $21.72. The company has a market cap of $44.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.47.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. PG&E’s payout ratio is 7.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total transaction of $1,147,766.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PCG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays decreased their price objective on PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.64.

PG&E Company Profile

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.