PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $21.63, but opened at $20.70. PG&E shares last traded at $20.45, with a volume of 8,716,695 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PCG shares. UBS Group raised their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on PG&E in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.10.

PG&E Trading Down 5.3 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $20.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $53.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.03.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. Equities analysts expect that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PCG. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 259.6% in 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 buying an additional 44,650 shares in the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in shares of PG&E in the second quarter worth approximately $1,122,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of PG&E by 808.5% during the second 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 during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 23.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 265,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its stake in PG&E by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 111,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,944,000 after purchasing an additional 31,573 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.