Souders Financial Advisors Decreases Position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Souders Financial Advisors cut its stake in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 29.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 133,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 56,736 shares during the quarter. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in PG&E were worth $2,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in PG&E by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in PG&E by 61.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PG&E by 98.5% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 2,154 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of PG&E by 32.9% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of PG&E by 746.0% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 4,819 shares during the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PG&E Stock Performance

PCG stock opened at $16.15 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.01. The company has a market capitalization of $43.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.99. PG&E Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.99 and a fifty-two week high of $21.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $6.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. PG&E’s payout ratio is 8.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on PCG. Barclays dropped their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PG&E currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.23.

Insider Activity

In other PG&E news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total transaction of $532,368.77. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 183,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,006,104.95. This trade represents a 15.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arno Lockheart Harris bought 6,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $100,051.74. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $232,770.24. This trade represents a 75.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

About PG&E

PG&E Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers. It specializes in energy, utility, power, gas, electricity, solar and sustainability. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.