PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.10.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PCG shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group upped 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on PG&E in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PG&E

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in PG&E by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,116,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $346,443,000 after purchasing an additional 681,369 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in PG&E by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 2,527 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of PG&E during the third quarter valued at approximately $349,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PG&E by 21.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 87,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,879,000 after buying an additional 15,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PG&E by 34.5% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 35,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 9,043 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Price Performance

PCG stock opened at $19.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.23. PG&E has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $21.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.01.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. PG&E had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.11%. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that PG&E will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.025 dividend. This is an increase from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.81%.

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.