PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) gapped down prior to trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $21.63, but opened at $20.70. PG&E shares last traded at $20.45, with a volume of 8,716,695 shares.

Specifically, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,168,186.52. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PCG. Bank of America started coverage on PG&E in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Mizuho upped their target price on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.10.

PG&E Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $54.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01.

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

PG&E Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. PG&E’s payout ratio is presently 3.13%.

Institutional Trading of PG&E

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in PG&E by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,116,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $346,443,000 after acquiring an additional 681,369 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in PG&E by 4.7% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 2,527 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in PG&E in the third quarter worth $349,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PG&E by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 87,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after buying an additional 15,648 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in PG&E by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 35,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 9,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.