PG&E Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:PCG)

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 65,032 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 137% compared to the typical daily volume of 27,415 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on PCG shares. Barclays cut their price objective on PG&E from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of PG&E in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on PG&E from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of PG&E from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of PG&E in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.13.

Insider Transactions at PG&E

In related news, Director Arno Lockheart Harris acquired 6,389 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.66 per share, for a total transaction of $100,051.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,770.24. The trade was a 75.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,519 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.30, for a total transaction of $562,578.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 151,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,614,306.80. This trade represents a 17.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PG&E

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in PG&E by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 474,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,566,000 after purchasing an additional 38,590 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of PG&E by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,974,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,837,000 after buying an additional 148,860 shares during the period. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PG&E in the fourth quarter valued at $514,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PG&E in the 4th quarter valued at $466,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in PG&E during the 4th quarter worth about $336,000. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PG&E Stock Performance

PG&E stock opened at $17.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.05. PG&E has a 1-year low of $14.99 and a 1-year high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. PG&E had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. PG&E’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. On average, analysts expect that PG&E will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.17%.

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.