PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Price Target Raised to $17.50 at Morgan Stanley

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $16.50 to $17.50 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho upped their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.05.

PG&E Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of PCG stock opened at $17.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. PG&E has a twelve month low of $14.99 and a twelve month high of $21.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.81. The stock has a market cap of $45.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The company had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that PG&E will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris purchased 6,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.66 per share, for a total transaction of $100,051.74. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,770.24. The trade was a 75.39 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total transaction of $532,368.77. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 183,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,006,104.95. This represents a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in PG&E by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 106,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,151,000 after buying an additional 27,873 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new stake in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter worth about $13,140,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in PG&E by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,703,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,386,000 after purchasing an additional 314,119 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,823,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

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.