PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Downgraded by UBS Group to Neutral

UBS Group cut shares of PG&E (NYSE:PCG) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $19.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $22.00.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lowered PG&E from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $16.50 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho raised their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Guggenheim cut shares of PG&E from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.95.

PG&E Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of PCG stock opened at $17.11 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. PG&E has a twelve month low of $14.99 and a twelve month high of $21.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.82. The stock has a market cap of $45.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04.

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

PG&E Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.70%.

Insider Activity

In other PG&E news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total value of $532,368.77. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 183,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,006,104.95. This represents a 15.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arno Lockheart Harris acquired 6,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $100,051.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $232,770.24. The trade was a 75.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PCG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter worth about $591,625,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in PG&E by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 46,805,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $944,540,000 after purchasing an additional 19,317,171 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in PG&E by 5.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 176,839,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,496,115,000 after purchasing an additional 8,604,396 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in PG&E by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,358,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,132,964,000 after purchasing an additional 6,151,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 12,661,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $255,506,000 after buying an additional 5,814,624 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

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.