PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $19.25, but opened at $17.97. PG&E shares last traded at $17.75, with a volume of 8,956,799 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PCG. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on PG&E in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays dropped their price objective on PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PG&E currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.80.

PG&E Stock Down 8.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $20.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.98.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. PG&E’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. Research analysts predict that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. This is a boost from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. PG&E’s payout ratio is 7.81%.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In other PG&E news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total value of $1,147,766.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at $30,168,186.52. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PCG. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in PG&E by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in PG&E by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 189,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,816,000 after buying an additional 14,132 shares during the period. Centre Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of PG&E by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 14,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PG&E by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 20,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of PG&E by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is 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.