Empirical Finance LLC Boosts Stock Position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 9.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,053 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PCG. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of PG&E by 22.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 16,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 2,982 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in PG&E by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of PG&E in the 1st quarter worth about $2,153,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 74.5% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 26,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 4,045 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:PCG opened at $21.04 on Friday. 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 market cap of $55.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.03. PG&E Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $21.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.87.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on PG&E in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.80.

PG&E 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.