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

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

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on PCG. Barclays dropped 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. UBS Group downgraded shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.05.

PG&E Stock Performance

PCG opened at $16.91 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. The company has a market cap of $45.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $16.16 and its 200 day moving average is $18.78. PG&E has a 12-month low of $14.99 and a 12-month high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The company had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.29 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that PG&E will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.70%.

Insider Transactions at PG&E

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PG&E

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in PG&E by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in PG&E by 1,233.6% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,690 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in PG&E by 563.0% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in PG&E by 61.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in PG&E by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 4,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.