PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $20.94 and last traded at $20.85, with a volume of 1299244 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.80.

PG&E Price Performance

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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.79. The stock has a market cap of $55.65 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.03.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. The business 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 business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.13%.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In related news, VP Stephanie N. Williams sold 38,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.32, for a total value of $707,170.32. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,114 shares in the company, valued at $350,168.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of PG&E during the third quarter valued at $115,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PG&E by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 176,839,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,496,115,000 after purchasing an additional 8,604,396 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in PG&E by 3.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,475,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,175,000 after acquiring an additional 55,236 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of PG&E by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,566,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $268,885,000 after purchasing an additional 246,164 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC increased its position in shares of PG&E by 4,777.0% in the third quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 585,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,571,000 after acquiring an additional 573,290 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

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.