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

Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.80.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PCG shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Barclays cut their price target on PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company.

PG&E Price Performance

PG&E stock opened at $19.24 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.48. PG&E has a 12 month low of $15.94 and a 12 month high of $21.72. The company has a market cap of $50.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 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 firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that PG&E will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. PG&E’s payout ratio is currently 7.81%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in PG&E during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of PG&E by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of PG&E during the second quarter worth about $44,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PG&E in the second quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in PG&E by 77.7% during the 3rd 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 during the period. 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.