Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 681,369 Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,116,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 681,369 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.65% of PG&E worth $346,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PCG. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of PG&E by 65.3% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 22,548 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in PG&E by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 20,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 4,531 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in PG&E by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 35,686 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 3,084 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PG&E by 77.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of PG&E by 4.4% in the second quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 29,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on PCG. Bank of America started coverage on shares of PG&E in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Mizuho raised their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total transaction of $1,147,766.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Price Performance

PG&E stock opened at $19.75 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.52 and a 200-day moving average of $19.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01. 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 52 week low of $15.94 and a 52 week high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.