Brokerages Set PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) PT at $22.80

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.80.

PCG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th.

PG&E Price Performance

NYSE:PCG opened at $19.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $20.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.47. PG&E has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $21.72. The firm has a market cap of $52.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.98.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PG&E will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is 7.81%.

Insider Transactions at PG&E

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 $30,168,186.52. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PCG. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of PG&E in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of PG&E during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PG&E during the second quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of PG&E by 77.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

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.