PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Receives $19.11 Average Target Price from Analysts

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.11.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on PG&E from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on PG&E from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of PG&E from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st.

PG&E Stock Up 0.2 %

PCG stock opened at $17.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.94. PG&E has a 1-year low of $14.71 and a 1-year high of $18.32.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 11.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PG&E will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total value of $1,007,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,515,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,889,471.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PG&E

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PCG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 8.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 268,407,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,329,416,000 after purchasing an additional 21,731,911 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in PG&E by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 176,029,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,839,363,000 after acquiring an additional 4,044,631 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in PG&E by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 116,093,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,093,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,681,566 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in PG&E by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 84,516,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,523,828,000 after purchasing an additional 993,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Third Point LLC increased its position in shares of PG&E by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 57,860,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,043,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.