MetLife Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 2.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 555,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,223 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PG&E were worth $10,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in PG&E during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in PG&E by 84.7% in 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 during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in PG&E by 77.0% during the 2nd 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 purchased a new position in PG&E during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of PG&E by 48.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCG has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company 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 objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.10.

PG&E Price Performance

NYSE PCG opened at $21.63 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $20.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.10. PG&E Co. has a 1 year low of $15.94 and a 1 year high of $21.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $56.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.03.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. PG&E had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. PG&E’s payout ratio is 3.13%.

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.