Barclays Increases PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Price Target to $25.00

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) had its price target increased by Barclays from $24.00 to $25.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on PCG. UBS Group lifted their price target 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 started coverage on PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.80.

PG&E Stock Performance

PG&E stock opened at $20.68 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.45. PG&E has a 52 week low of $15.59 and a 52 week high of $20.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. PG&E had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.76%. The company had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that PG&E will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.42%.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In other PG&E news, VP Stephanie N. Williams sold 38,601 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,168.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCG. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of PG&E in the second quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in PG&E by 84.7% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in PG&E by 77.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of PG&E in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of PG&E by 48.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.