ING Groep NV Sells 1,699 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

ING Groep NV reduced its position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 718,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,699 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in PG&E were worth $14,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PCG. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of PG&E in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of PG&E by 84.7% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 77.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in PG&E during the second quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in PG&E by 48.8% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE PCG opened at $20.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. PG&E Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $21.51. The stock has a market cap of $54.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.83.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.58 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, 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 announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. PG&E’s payout ratio is 3.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PCG. Bank of America started 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 raised their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group increased their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.80.

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.