Mizuho Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Stock

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Mizuho from $24.00 to $26.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.82% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on PCG. Bank of America began coverage on PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on PG&E in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.10.

PG&E Price Performance

Shares of PG&E stock traded up $0.19 on Wednesday, hitting $21.70. 2,290,796 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,792,491. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.07. PG&E has a 1-year low of $15.94 and a 1-year high of $21.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PG&E will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of PG&E

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of PG&E by 5.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 176,839,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,496,115,000 after acquiring an additional 8,604,396 shares during the period. King Street Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of PG&E during the second quarter worth $1,964,250,000. 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of PG&E by 2.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 104,846,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,072,824,000 after purchasing an additional 2,936,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PG&E by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,837,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $981,960,000 after purchasing an additional 536,914 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

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.