PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 8,820,336 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the previous session’s volume of 14,296,628 shares.The stock last traded at $19.46 and had previously closed at $19.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America started coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.80.

PG&E Stock Up 2.1 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $20.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $51.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. PG&E’s payout ratio is currently 7.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PG&E

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PCG. King Street Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in PG&E in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,964,250,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 17.3% during the second 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 acquiring an additional 14,998,472 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $3,496,115,000 after acquiring an additional 8,604,396 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position 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 during the period. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON lifted its holdings in shares of PG&E by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 12,643,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $249,954,000 after purchasing an additional 3,958,495 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by 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.