GAMMA Investing LLC Has $424,000 Stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 17.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,163 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PCG. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in PG&E by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of PG&E during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PG&E in the 2nd quarter valued at $74,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 77.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd boosted its stake in PG&E by 19.5% during the second quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 4,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PG&E Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of PG&E stock opened at $20.40 on Monday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $20.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.44. PG&E Co. has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $21.72. The company has a market capitalization of $53.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.98.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its 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. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PG&E has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total value of $1,147,766.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.