Morgan Stanley Cuts PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Price Target to $17.00

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $18.00 to $17.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on PCG. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on PG&E in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a buy rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded PG&E from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and increased their target price for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on PG&E from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PG&E has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $20.11.

PG&E Stock Performance

Shares of PCG opened at $17.58 on Monday. 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 has a 52-week low of $14.71 and a 52-week high of $18.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.25. The company has a market capitalization of $50.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69 and a beta of 1.19.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.60 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 11.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that PG&E will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PG&E Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. PG&E’s payout ratio is 3.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PG&E

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 59,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.08, for a total value of $1,007,720.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,515,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,889,471.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PG&E by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 282,332,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,731,888,000 after purchasing an additional 5,635,693 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in PG&E by 1.8% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 126,126,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,113,882,000 after buying an additional 2,176,931 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in PG&E by 4.4% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 121,159,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,641,000 after buying an additional 5,066,183 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of PG&E by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 84,516,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,523,828,000 after acquiring an additional 993,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Third Point LLC raised its stake in shares of PG&E by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 57,860,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,043,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 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.