PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PG&E (NYSE:PCG) in a research report report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $21.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

PCG has been the topic of several other reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group cut their price target 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.64.

PG&E Stock Performance

PG&E stock opened at $16.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. PG&E has a one year low of $15.94 and a one year high of $21.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.98.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PG&E will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. This is an increase from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. PG&E’s payout ratio is 7.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total value of $1,147,766.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PG&E

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of PG&E by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in PG&E by 1.5% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 47,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in PG&E by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in PG&E by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 7,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PG&E by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

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.