Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on PG&E (NYSE:PCG)

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 51,272 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 131% compared to the average daily volume of 22,182 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PCG. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of PG&E from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $18.00 price target on shares of PG&E and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of PG&E in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.30, for a total transaction of $562,578.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 151,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,614,306.80. This represents a 17.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PG&E

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in PG&E by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 257,285,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,420,162,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,384 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of PG&E by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,988,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,046,462,000 after buying an additional 2,151,494 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of PG&E by 70.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 46,805,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $944,540,000 after buying an additional 19,317,171 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PG&E during the 4th quarter worth approximately $591,625,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of PG&E by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,944,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $342,643,000 after buying an additional 818,377 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Stock Performance

NYSE:PCG traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $14.28. 16,152,625 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,200,413. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.00. PG&E has a 52-week low of $14.07 and a 52-week high of $21.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.43.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.23 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 10.94%. PG&E’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that PG&E will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

PG&E Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. PG&E’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.17%.

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.