Bridgewater Associates LP Buys 727,459 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 107.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,407,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 727,459 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.05% of PG&E worth $25,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 17,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 45,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 35,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $639,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 15,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 20,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total value of $1,007,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,515,777 shares in the company, valued at $25,889,471.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Stock Performance

NYSE PCG traded down $0.18 on Tuesday, hitting $18.26. 555,836 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,637,443. The company has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 1.19. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $17.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.21. PG&E Co. has a 52-week low of $14.71 and a 52-week high of $18.95.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. PG&E had a return on equity of 11.32% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. PG&E’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.22%. PG&E’s payout ratio is 3.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on PCG shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on PG&E from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on PG&E in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.25.

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.