PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Given New $22.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on PG&E from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. 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 objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised PG&E from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and increased their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Mizuho increased 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. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $20.40.

PG&E Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of PG&E stock opened at $18.03 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.24. The company has a market capitalization of $51.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.93. PG&E has a 1 year low of $14.71 and a 1 year high of $18.95.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.86 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.57%.

Insider Transactions at PG&E

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,515,777 shares in the company, valued at $25,889,471.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PG&E

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of PG&E by 2.0% in 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in PG&E by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 126,126,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,113,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,931 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in PG&E by 4.4% in the 1st 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 period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 993,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Third Point LLC grew its position in PG&E by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 57,860,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,043,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PG&E Company Profile

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.