PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Hits New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $15.94 and last traded at $16.12, with a volume of 3695419 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $16.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PCG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group dropped their target price on PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho raised their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays dropped their price objective on PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PG&E in a research report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.64.

PG&E Stock Up 3.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.47. The firm has a market cap of $44.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. PG&E had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.11%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. PG&E’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. This is a boost from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total transaction of $1,147,766.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of 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 period. King Street Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in PG&E during the second quarter worth about $1,964,250,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in PG&E by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 108,953,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,155,093,000 after buying an additional 5,191,463 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in PG&E by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 104,846,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,072,824,000 after buying an additional 2,936,763 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PG&E by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,837,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $981,960,000 after acquiring an additional 536,914 shares during the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.