PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 8,820,336 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the previous session’s volume of 14,296,628 shares.The stock last traded at $19.46 and had previously closed at $19.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PCG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of PG&E from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America started coverage on shares of PG&E in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on PG&E in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on PG&E from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on PG&E from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.80.

PG&E Trading Up 1.9 %

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.28. The stock has a market cap of $51.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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

PG&E Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from PG&E’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. PG&E’s payout ratio is presently 7.81%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Patricia K. Poppe sold 55,555 shares of PG&E 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,460,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,168,186.52. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PG&E

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 3.1% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 22,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 47,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of PG&E by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 7,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd grew its position in PG&E by 19.5% in the second quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 4,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in PG&E by 2.6% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

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.