Hartree Partners LP Makes New Investment in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Hartree Partners LP bought a new position in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 100,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,000. PG&E accounts for approximately 0.8% of Hartree Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in PG&E by 68.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in PG&E by 61.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in PG&E by 746.0% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 4,819 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter valued at $111,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

PG&E Trading Down 1.0 %

PCG opened at $16.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The stock has a market cap of $45.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $16.21 and a 200-day moving average of $18.68. PG&E Co. has a twelve month low of $14.99 and a twelve month high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. PG&E had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The business had revenue of $6.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PCG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Guggenheim lowered PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lowered their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.05.

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.