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PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG)

Shares of PG&E spiked after in late trading on Tuesday after the state government of California unveiled a proposal to look into effects of climate change and natural disasters.

The move follows the recent devastating fires on the state’s wildlife, which could cut down liabilities that utility companies face.

The stock, which had weakened around midday, broke in the final hours of trading to stand at $45.10 after making a gain of $2.68. It was the highest level that the stock has gained since the start of February.

PCG Earnings & Outlook

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Wall Street expects the stock to grow its earnings at a 3.64% annual rate during the course of the next 5 years. The growth rate would imply a bigger aptitude for capital appreciation. PCG’s Return on Investment (ROI) is 6.80% while its free cash flow per share for the last twelve months stood at -1.41.

On the basis of percent-of-sales, the stock’s free cash flow stood at -4.24%. With a beta of 0.07 and an average investment recommendation of 2.9 on a scale of 1 to 5, the stock will continue to be a good investment in the next several months.

PG&E’s CEO Comments

PG&E Corp. Chief Executive Officer Geisha Williams made sure the public understood how much she detests fire liability law in California. Williams has been pressing lawmakers to amend a California law referred to as “inverse condemnation” which holds utilities, such as PG&E accountable when blazes are sparked by their power lines. The CEO argues that “the real culprit of more extreme wildfires is climate change.”

During an hour-long panel that took place on Thursday last week in Houston, William repeated her calls for lawmakers to get rid of that law. She said she expected that California would do away with the rule, or “I will not be around in two years.”

PG&E Corporation Company Profile

PG&E Corp. is a holding company with interests in energy-based businesses. The company was established in 1995 and is head offices are in San Francisco, California. Its holdings include a utility with operations in central and northern California which provides natural gas and electricity distribution, natural gas storage, transportation, procurement, and electricity transmission, generation, and procurement.  The Company provides electricity distribution and distribution services to various agricultural, residential, industrial, and commercial customers in its territory of service.

The electricity transmission system of PG&E is linked with power systems across several western states, British Columbia and Alberta, and sections of Mexico. In 2017, its electricity distribution network covered about 142,100 miles of distribution lines, 606 distribution substations and 59 transmission switching substations, with 31,800 MVA capacity.

On the other hand, its natural gas system covered about 42,900 miles of distribution pipelines, across 6,750 miles of local and backbone transmission pipelines, and numerous storage facilities. –MorningStar