PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Price Target Cut to $22.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) had its target price decreased by UBS Group from $24.00 to $22.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on PCG. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Monday, January 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PG&E presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.36.

PG&E Stock Performance

NYSE:PCG opened at $15.68 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.41. PG&E has a 1-year low of $15.52 and a 1-year high of $21.72. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $40.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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

PG&E Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.025 dividend. This is a boost from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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 dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total value 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 $30,168,186.52. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PG&E

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position 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. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of PG&E by 5.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,953,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,155,093,000 after purchasing an additional 5,191,463 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON grew its stake in shares of PG&E by 45.6% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 12,643,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $249,954,000 after purchasing an additional 3,958,495 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in PG&E in the second quarter valued at $56,679,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in PG&E by 2.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 104,846,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,072,824,000 after buying an additional 2,936,763 shares in the last quarter. 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.