PG&E (NYSE:PCG) PT Raised to $20.00 at Morgan Stanley

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on PCG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America began coverage on PG&E in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a buy rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays raised their price target on PG&E from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $21.55.

PG&E Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:PCG opened at $19.82 on Wednesday. PG&E has a twelve month low of $14.71 and a twelve month high of $20.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.98.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.86 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that PG&E will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. PG&E’s payout ratio is 3.57%.

Insider Activity

In other PG&E news, VP Stephanie N. Williams sold 38,601 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.32, for a total value of $707,170.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 19,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $350,168.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of PG&E

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. King Street Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in PG&E in the second quarter valued at about $1,964,250,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in PG&E by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 101,910,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,779,352,000 after buying an additional 14,998,472 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in PG&E in the 4th quarter valued at about $142,612,000. Capital International Investors raised 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 valued at $2,093,198,000 after buying an additional 7,681,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PG&E by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 282,332,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,731,888,000 after acquiring an additional 5,635,693 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.