PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Rating Lowered to “Underweight” at Morgan Stanley

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) was downgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $16.50 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $20.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.81% from the company’s previous close.

PCG has been the topic of several other reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on PG&E from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on PG&E from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of PG&E in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PG&E in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.05.

PG&E Price Performance

Shares of PG&E stock opened at $15.90 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $41.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $18.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.24. PG&E has a 12 month low of $14.99 and a 12 month high of $21.72.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. PG&E had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.11%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that PG&E will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.66, for a total value of $1,147,766.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,460,222 shares in the company, valued at $30,168,186.52. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in PG&E by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in PG&E by 61.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in PG&E by 77.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in PG&E by 98.5% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 2,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its stake in PG&E by 32.9% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

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.