PG&E (NYSE:PCG) Given a $18.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) has been given a $18.00 target price by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an "underweight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price indicates a potential upside of 5.45% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered shares of PG&E from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of PG&E from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.75.

PG&E Stock Down 1.9%

PCG opened at $17.07 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $17.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.05. PG&E has a twelve month low of $14.99 and a twelve month high of $21.72. The firm has a market cap of $45.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.63.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that PG&E will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PG&E

In related news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,519 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.30, for a total value of $562,578.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 151,116 shares in the company, valued at $2,614,306.80. This trade represents a 17.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PG&E

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in shares of PG&E by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,173 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of PG&E by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,066 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PG&E by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 42,747 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $738,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position in shares of PG&E by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 4,271 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 825 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its position in shares of PG&E by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 15,542 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.