Traders Purchase Large Volume of PG&E Put Options (NYSE:PCG)

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 37,894 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 87% compared to the average daily volume of 20,282 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PG&E has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.36.

PG&E Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of PCG traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $15.82. 8,190,217 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,480,477. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.28. PG&E has a 1-year low of $14.99 and a 1-year high of $21.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The company has a market cap of $41.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.99.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total transaction of $1,147,766.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PG&E

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 474,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,566,000 after acquiring an additional 38,590 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in PG&E by 5.0% in the third 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 holdings in 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 worth $1,223,000 after buying an additional 44,650 shares during the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter valued at $514,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in PG&E during the fourth quarter valued at about $336,000. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About PG&E

PG&E Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers. It specializes in energy, utility, power, gas, electricity, solar and sustainability. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.