PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.95.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PCG shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on PG&E from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lowered shares of PG&E from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of PG&E from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of PG&E from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total transaction of $532,368.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 183,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,006,104.95. This trade represents a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arno Lockheart Harris acquired 6,389 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $100,051.74. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $232,770.24. This represents a 75.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of PG&E by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 474,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,566,000 after purchasing an additional 38,590 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new position in PG&E in the 4th quarter valued at about $514,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PG&E in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $466,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter worth approximately $336,000. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company's stock.

PG&E Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE PCG traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,360,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,389,777. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.34. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $46.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.70. PG&E has a fifty-two week low of $14.99 and a fifty-two week high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that PG&E will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. PG&E's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.70%.

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.