Brokerages Set PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Target Price at $22.18

Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.80.

Several research firms have commented on PCG. Barclays upped their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

PG&E Stock Up 0.5 %

PCG stock opened at $20.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $54.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. PG&E has a 12 month low of $15.59 and a 12 month high of $20.81.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. PG&E had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.76%. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that PG&E will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Stephanie N. Williams sold 38,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.32, for a total value of $707,170.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 19,114 shares in the company, valued at $350,168.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PG&E

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. King Street Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in PG&E during the second quarter worth about $1,964,250,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in PG&E by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 101,910,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,779,352,000 after buying an additional 14,998,472 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in PG&E by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 282,332,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,731,888,000 after buying an additional 5,635,693 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of PG&E by 4.4% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 121,159,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,641,000 after acquiring an additional 5,066,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PG&E in the first quarter valued at $57,200,000. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.