PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Price Target Raised to $20.00

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $19.00 to $20.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on PG&E from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of PG&E from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and increased their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of PG&E in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a buy rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $21.55.

PG&E Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE PCG traded up $0.07 on Wednesday, reaching $19.89. 11,506,151 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,511,696. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.95 and a 200 day moving average of $17.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. PG&E has a fifty-two week low of $14.71 and a fifty-two week high of $20.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.01.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.86 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.76%. PG&E's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PG&E will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. PG&E's dividend payout ratio is presently 3.57%.

Insider Activity

In other PG&E news, VP Stephanie N. Williams sold 38,601 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.32, for a total transaction of $707,170.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,114 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $350,168.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.15% 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 PCG. King Street Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in PG&E in the second quarter worth $1,964,250,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of PG&E by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 101,910,190 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,779,352,000 after buying an additional 14,998,472 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in PG&E during the fourth quarter worth about $142,612,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in PG&E by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 116,093,791 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,093,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,681,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in PG&E by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 282,332,215 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,731,888,000 after acquiring an additional 5,635,693 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PG&E Company Profile

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.