Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Stock Price

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) had its target price reduced by Barclays from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

PCG has been the subject of several other research reports. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.80.

PG&E Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of PCG stock opened at $19.42 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. PG&E has a 12-month low of $15.94 and a 12-month high of $21.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $20.51 and its 200 day moving average is $19.28.

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

PG&E Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,168,186.52. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in PG&E by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,722,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,816,000 after purchasing an additional 169,503 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 4.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,116,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,443,000 after buying an additional 681,369 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in PG&E by 4.7% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 2,527 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in PG&E during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $349,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in PG&E by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 87,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,879,000 after acquiring an additional 15,648 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

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.