Forest Avenue Capital Management LP Boosts Stock Position in PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Forest Avenue Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 56.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,577,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 570,250 shares during the period. PG&E accounts for 3.8% of Forest Avenue Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP owned about 0.06% of PG&E worth $27,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in PG&E in the 4th quarter worth approximately $231,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in PG&E by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in PG&E by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in PG&E by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 19,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 3,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PG&E by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 70,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 11,094 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PCG. Bank of America began coverage on PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Barclays raised their price target on PG&E from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at PG&E

In related news, VP Stephanie N. Williams sold 38,601 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.32, for a total transaction of $707,170.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,168.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PCG opened at $20.08 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $57.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.01. PG&E Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.71 and a fifty-two week high of $20.65.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.86 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 11.76% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. PG&E’s payout ratio is 3.57%.

About PG&E

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.