MML Investors Services LLC Sells 8,749 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

MML Investors Services LLC reduced its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,749 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $1,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total transaction of $1,147,766.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PG&E Price Performance

NYSE:PCG opened at $19.20 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.28. The company has a market cap of $50.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01. PG&E Co. has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.11%. PG&E’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PCG. Bank of America began coverage on PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho lifted their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PG&E currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

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.