Guggenheim Issues Positive Forecast for PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Stock Price

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Guggenheim from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Guggenheim's price objective points to a potential upside of 1.80% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on PCG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on PG&E from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on PG&E from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on PG&E from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating on shares of PG&E in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PG&E presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $21.13.

PG&E Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PCG traded down $0.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.70. 8,016,284 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,375,718. PG&E has a 52 week low of $14.99 and a 52 week high of $21.72. The company's 50 day moving average is $16.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.52, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.70.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.02). PG&E had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 10.27%. The business had revenue of $5.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PG&E will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PG&E news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,521 shares of PG&E stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.37, for a total value of $532,368.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 183,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,006,104.95. The trade was a 15.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arno Lockheart Harris bought 6,389 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.66 per share, for a total transaction of $100,051.74. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $232,770.24. This represents a 75.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of PG&E

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in PG&E by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 18,506 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,964 shares during the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in PG&E during the first quarter worth $191,000. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. acquired a new position in PG&E during the first quarter worth about $288,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of PG&E by 35.5% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 47,860 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 12,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. boosted its stake in PG&E by 6.3% during the first quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 342,461 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,883,000 after buying an additional 20,419 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.