Barclays Cuts PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Price Target to $24.00

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) had its price target reduced by Barclays from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

PCG has been the topic of several other reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PG&E has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.80.

PG&E Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of PCG opened at $19.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01. PG&E has a twelve month low of $15.94 and a twelve month high of $21.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.28.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. PG&E’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that PG&E will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total value of $1,147,766.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PCG. State Street Corp increased its stake in PG&E by 5.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,191,463 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of PG&E by 259.6% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 61,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 44,650 shares in the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in PG&E in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,122,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in PG&E by 808.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,243,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,703,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in PG&E by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,387,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,230,000 after purchasing an additional 265,694 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

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.