Quadrature Capital Ltd Buys 308,377 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 308.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 408,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 308,377 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in PG&E were worth $8,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of PG&E in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 84.7% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 77.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of PG&E in the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 243.0% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 4,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 2,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.10.

PG&E Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:PCG opened at $20.52 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.18. PG&E Co. has a 12 month low of $15.94 and a 12 month high of $21.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock has a market cap of $53.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.01.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. PG&E’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. Equities analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company 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.