PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Receives $23.10 Average Price Target from Analysts

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.10.

Several brokerages have issued reports on PCG. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised 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.

PG&E Stock Down 0.9 %

PCG opened at $19.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $51.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.25. PG&E has a twelve month low of $15.94 and a twelve month high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that PG&E will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is 3.13%.

Insider Transactions at PG&E

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total value of $1,147,766.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in PG&E by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,953,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,155,093,000 after buying an additional 5,191,463 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of PG&E by 259.6% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 61,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 44,650 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in shares of PG&E during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,122,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of PG&E by 808.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,243,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,200 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in PG&E by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,387,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,230,000 after purchasing an additional 265,694 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.