PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.11.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised PG&E from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on PG&E from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on PG&E from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in PG&E by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 78,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 8,369 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 3.6% in the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 44,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 1,535 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 3.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 35,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $578,000 after buying an additional 1,156 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 26.4% in the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,175,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,961,000 after buying an additional 245,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PG&E by 50.8% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 57,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 19,480 shares during the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PG&E Trading Up 1.4 %

PG&E stock opened at $17.26 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.91. The company has a market cap of $36.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 1.32. PG&E has a 52-week low of $14.71 and a 52-week high of $18.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. PG&E had a return on equity of 11.32% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that PG&E will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. PG&E’s payout ratio is 3.57%.

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.