PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.11.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of PG&E from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PG&E from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of PG&E from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total transaction of $1,007,720.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,515,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,889,471.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in PG&E in the 1st quarter valued at $808,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of PG&E by 149.8% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 48,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $810,000 after purchasing an additional 28,976 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in PG&E by 0.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,902,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $249,774,000 after purchasing an additional 78,550 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in PG&E by 8.4% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 267,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,491,000 after buying an additional 20,816 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in PG&E by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 172,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,893,000 after buying an additional 28,036 shares during the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PG&E Stock Up 0.2 %

PCG stock opened at $17.57 on Tuesday. PG&E has a one year low of $14.71 and a one year high of $18.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $16.65 and a 200-day moving average of $16.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69 and a beta of 1.26.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. PG&E had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 11.32%. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that PG&E will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. PG&E’s payout ratio is currently 3.57%.

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.