Bank of America Initiates Coverage on PG&E (NYSE:PCG)

Investment analysts at Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of PG&E (NYSE:PCG) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 21.40% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on PCG. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, June 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of PG&E from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.45.

PG&E Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of PCG stock opened at $19.77 on Thursday. PG&E has a 1 year low of $14.71 and a 1 year high of $20.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $51.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65 and a beta of 1.01.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.86 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that PG&E will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Stephanie N. Williams sold 38,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.32, for a total transaction of $707,170.32. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $350,168.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in PG&E during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in PG&E by 84.7% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Vima LLC bought a new position in PG&E during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in PG&E by 77.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in PG&E during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.