PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.11.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PCG shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, June 10th. Mizuho raised their price objective on PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of PG&E from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,515,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,889,471.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PG&E

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PG&E in the fourth quarter worth approximately $394,285,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in PG&E by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 268,407,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,329,416,000 after purchasing an additional 21,731,911 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in PG&E during the 4th quarter worth approximately $142,612,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 7.1% in 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 during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 534.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,314,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,852,000 after purchasing an additional 5,319,289 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PCG opened at $17.60 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.25. PG&E has a 1 year low of $14.71 and a 1 year high of $18.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $50.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 1.19.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. PG&E had a return on equity of 11.32% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. PG&E’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that PG&E will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.57%.

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.