Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on PG&E (NYSE:PCG)

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 21,058 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 146% compared to the typical volume of 8,557 put options.

PG&E Trading Down 3.7 %

NYSE PCG opened at $19.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.48. PG&E has a 12 month low of $15.94 and a 12 month high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that PG&E will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.025 dividend. This is a positive change from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PCG shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho raised their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on 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 reduced their price objective on PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on PG&E in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PG&E

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in PG&E by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 189,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,816,000 after buying an additional 14,132 shares during the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC increased its stake in PG&E by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 14,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in PG&E by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 20,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 3,163 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in PG&E by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of PG&E by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,722,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,816,000 after purchasing an additional 169,503 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.