PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) shares gapped down prior to trading 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

PCG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on PG&E in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America initiated 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PG&E currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.80.

PG&E Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $45.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.98. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.48.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. PG&E had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that PG&E Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

PG&E Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at PG&E

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at $30,168,186.52. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in PG&E in the second quarter worth about $179,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PG&E during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $451,000. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of PG&E during the second quarter worth approximately $531,000. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in PG&E in the second quarter valued at approximately $336,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in PG&E by 3.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 276,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,828,000 after acquiring an additional 8,496 shares during the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About PG&E

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.