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Common Stock And Share-Based Compensation
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Common Stock And Share-Based Compensation

NOTE 5: COMMON STOCK AND SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

 

PG&E Corporation had 506,891,874 shares of common stock outstanding at December 31, 2016.  PG&E Corporation held all of the Utility’s outstanding common stock at December 31, 2016.

 

During 2016, PG&E Corporation sold 2.6 million shares of common stock under the February 2015 equity distribution agreement for cash proceeds of $149 million, net of commissions paid of $1.3 million. As of December 31, 2016, the remaining gross sales available under this agreement were $275 million.

 

In August 2016, PG&E Corporation sold 4.9 million shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering for net cash proceeds of $309 million.

 

In addition, during 2016, PG&E Corporation sold 7.4 million shares of common stock under its 401(k) plan, the Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan, and share-based compensation plans for total cash proceeds of $364 million.

 

Dividends

 

The Board of Directors of PG&E Corporation and the Utility declare dividends quarterly.  Under the Utility’s Articles of Incorporation, the Utility cannot pay common stock dividends unless all cumulative preferred dividends on the Utility’s preferred stock have been paid.  For the first quarter of 2016, the Board of Directors of PG&E Corporation declared a common stock dividend of $0.455 per share.  In May 2016, the Board of Directors of PG&E Corporation adopted a new quarterly common stock dividend of $0.49 per share. In 2016, total dividends were $1.925 per share.

 

Under their respective credit agreements, PG&E Corporation and the Utility are each required to maintain a ratio of consolidated total debt to consolidated capitalization of at most 65%.  Additionally, the CPUC requires the Utility to maintain a capital structure composed of at least 52% equity on a weighted average over five years.  At December 31, 2016, the Utility had restricted net assets of $15.8 billion and was limited to $25 million of additional common stock dividends it could pay to PG&E Corporation.

 

Long-Term Incentive Plan

 

The PG&E Corporation LTIP permits various forms of share-based incentive awards, including restricted stock awards, restricted stock units, performance shares, and other share-based awards, to eligible employees of PG&E Corporation and its subsidiaries.  Non-employee directors of PG&E Corporation are also eligible to receive certain share-based awards.  A maximum of 17 million shares of PG&E Corporation common stock (subject to certain adjustments) has been reserved for issuance under the 2014 LTIP, of which 13,826,995 shares were available for future awards at December 31, 2016.

 

The following table provides a summary of total share-based compensation expense recognized by PG&E Corporation for share-based incentive awards for 2016, 2015, and 2014:

 

(in millions)

2016

 

2015

 

2014

Restricted stock units

$ 

53 

 

$ 

47 

 

$ 

42 

Performance shares

 

55 

 

 

46 

 

 

36 

Total compensation expense (pre-tax)

$

108 

 

$

93 

 

$

78 

Total compensation expense (after-tax)

$

64 

 

$

55 

 

$

47 

 

 

The amount of share-based compensation costs capitalized during 2016, 2015, and 2014 was immaterial.  There was no material difference between PG&E Corporation and the Utility for the information disclosed above.

 

Restricted Stock Units

 

Prior to 2014, restricted stock units generally vested over four years in 20% increments on the first business day of March in year one, two, and three, with the remaining 40% vesting on the first business day of March in year four.  Restricted stock units granted after 2014 generally vest equally over three years.  Vested restricted stock units are settled in shares of PG&E Corporation common stock accompanied by cash payments to settle any dividend equivalents associated with the vested restricted stock units.  Compensation expense is generally recognized rateably over the vesting period based on grant-date fair value.  The weighted average grant-date fair value for restricted stock units granted during 2016, 2015, and 2014 was $56.68, $53.30, and $43.76, respectively.  The total fair value of restricted stock units that vested during 2016, 2015, and 2014 was $36 million, $57 million, and $34 million, respectively.  The tax benefit from restricted stock units that vested during each period was not material.  In general, forfeitures are recorded rateably over the vesting period, using historical averages and adjusted to actuals when vesting occurs.  As of December 31, 2016, $37 million of total unrecognized compensation costs related to nonvested restricted stock units was expected to be recognized over the remaining weighted average period of 1.22 years.

 

The following table summarizes restricted stock unit activity for 2016:

 

 

Number of

 

Weighted Average Grant-

 

Restricted Stock Units

 

Date Fair Value

Nonvested at January 1

1,972,899 

 

$

47.33 

Granted

776,312 

 

$

56.68 

Vested

(770,968)

 

$

46.79 

Forfeited

(55,233)

 

$

49.65 

Nonvested at December 31

1,923,010 

 

$

51.26 

 

Performance Shares

 

Performance shares generally will vest three years after the grant date.  Upon vesting, performance shares are settled in shares of common stock based on either PG&E Corporation’s total shareholder return relative to a specified group of industry peer companies over a three-year performance period or, for a small number of awards, an internal PG&E Corporation metric.  Dividend equivalents are paid in cash based on the amount of common stock to which the recipients are entitled. 

 

Compensation expense attributable to performance share is generally recognized rateably over the applicable three-year period based on the grant-date fair value determined using a Monte Carlo simulation valuation model for the total shareholder return based awards or the grant-date market value of PG&E Corporation common stock for internal metric based awards.  The weighted average grant-date fair value for performance shares granted during 2016, 2015, and 2014 was $53.61, $68.27, and $51.81 respectively.  There was no tax benefit associated with performance shares during each of these periods.  In general, forfeitures are recorded rateably over the vesting period, using historical averages and adjusted to actuals when vesting occurs.  As of December 31, 2016, $40 million of total unrecognized compensation costs related to nonvested performance shares was expected to be recognized over the remaining weighted average period of 1.57 years.

 

The following table summarizes activity for performance shares in 2016:

 

 

Number of

 

Weighted Average Grant-

 

Performance Shares

 

Date Fair Value

Nonvested at January 1

1,450,612 

 

$

59.24 

Granted

1,233,884 

 

 

53.61 

Vested

(777,719)

 

 

51.81 

Forfeited (1)

(67,922)

 

 

58.20 

Nonvested at December 31

1,838,855 

 

$

58.65 

 

 

 

 

 

(1) Includes performance shares that expired with zero value as performance targets were not met.