Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Stock Price

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $16.50 to $17.50 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 1.61% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on PCG. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Guggenheim lowered shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of PG&E in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PG&E has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.05.

PG&E Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:PCG traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $17.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,223,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,049,474. PG&E has a 1 year low of $14.99 and a 1 year high of $21.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $16.21 and a 200-day moving average of $18.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.01 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that PG&E will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at PG&E

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PG&E

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of PG&E by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 474,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,566,000 after purchasing an additional 38,590 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in PG&E by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,974,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,837,000 after acquiring an additional 148,860 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in PG&E by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,953,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,155,093,000 after acquiring an additional 5,191,463 shares during the period. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in PG&E in the 4th quarter valued at $514,000. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in PG&E in the 4th quarter valued at $466,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.