PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,812,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,493,578 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.45% of PG&E worth $212,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of PG&E during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PG&E during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of PG&E during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PG&E during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PG&E Price Performance

Shares of PCG stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.93. 2,011,797 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,975,243. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.09. PG&E Co. has a 1-year low of $14.71 and a 1-year high of $18.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $54.50 billion, a PE ratio of 16.89 and a beta of 1.26.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. PG&E had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 11.32%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that PG&E Co. will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total transaction of $1,007,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,515,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,889,471.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PCG has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on PG&E from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Mizuho raised their price target on PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com raised PG&E from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on PG&E in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on PG&E from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.44.

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.