BMO Capital Markets Initiates Coverage on PG&E (NYSE:PCG)

Stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set an "outperform" rating and a $21.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price target suggests a potential upside of 29.63% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on PCG. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays dropped their price target on PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.64.

PG&E Stock Performance

NYSE PCG traded down $0.97 on Monday, hitting $16.20. 69,588,866 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 33,513,602. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The business's 50 day moving average price is $20.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.49. The company has a market capitalization of $42.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.98. PG&E has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. PG&E had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.11%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. The firm's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that PG&E will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total transaction of $1,147,766.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PG&E

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 5,191,463 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of PG&E by 259.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 61,850 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 44,650 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC bought a new stake in PG&E during the second quarter valued at about $1,122,000. Creative Planning grew its stake in PG&E by 39.6% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 111,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,944,000 after purchasing an additional 31,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in PG&E by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 435,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,608,000 after purchasing an additional 28,192 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.