Analysts Set PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) PT at $21.95

Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.95.

PCG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of PG&E from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group cut shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on PG&E from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim cut PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th.

PG&E Stock Performance

NYSE PCG opened at $16.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $45.07 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.70. PG&E has a 52-week low of $14.99 and a 52-week high of $21.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.31.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The company had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that PG&E will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PG&E news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris purchased 6,389 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.66 per share, for a total transaction of $100,051.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,770.24. The trade was a 75.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total transaction of $532,368.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 183,635 shares in the company, valued at $3,006,104.95. This trade represents a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PG&E

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in PG&E by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in PG&E by 1,233.6% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,690 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in PG&E by 563.0% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of PG&E by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares during the period. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in shares of PG&E by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 4,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 825 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

About PG&E

PG&E Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers. It specializes in energy, utility, power, gas, electricity, solar and sustainability. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.