Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on PG&E (NYSE:PCG)

PG&E Co. (NYSE:PCG) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 14,992 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 58% compared to the average volume of 9,511 call options.

Insider Transactions at PG&E

In other PG&E news, VP Stephanie N. Williams sold 38,601 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.32, for a total value of $707,170.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 19,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,168.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PG&E

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in PG&E in the second quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in PG&E by 84.7% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in PG&E by 77.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027 shares during the period. Vima LLC purchased a new stake in PG&E during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in PG&E during the second quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

PG&E Stock Up 2.5 %

PCG stock opened at $20.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $53.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.60. PG&E has a 1-year low of $14.71 and a 1-year high of $20.53.

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.86 billion. PG&E had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. Analysts expect that PG&E will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PCG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of PG&E from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on PG&E from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on PG&E from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on PG&E from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on PG&E from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PG&E presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.20.

PG&E Company Profile

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.