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

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.80.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PCG shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays cut their price target on PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group cut their target price on PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on PG&E in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company.

Insider Transactions at PG&E

In other news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total value of $1,147,766.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, 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 is accessible through this link. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PG&E

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PCG. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in PG&E during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in PG&E during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in PG&E by 77.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of PG&E in the second quarter worth about $74,000. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PG&E Stock Performance

PCG opened at $17.20 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.98. PG&E has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $21.72.

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

PG&E Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.81%.

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.