PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.36.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PG&E in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Barclays lowered their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock.

PG&E Price Performance

PCG stock opened at $15.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.32. PG&E has a one year low of $14.99 and a one year high of $21.72. The company has a market capitalization of $41.18 billion, a PE ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PG&E will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 8.9% during the fourth 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 period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in PG&E by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,953,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,155,093,000 after buying an additional 5,191,463 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in PG&E by 259.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 61,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after buying an additional 44,650 shares during the period. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new position in PG&E in the 4th quarter worth about $514,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in PG&E during the 4th quarter worth $336,000. Hedge funds and other 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.