Deutsche Bank Downgrades PG&E Corporation

Deutsche Bank downgraded PG&E Corporation PCG Wednesday from Buy to Hold and cut its price target from $54 to $52.

Analysts led by Jonathan Arnold commented that “it is now clear that the California PUC will not issue final decisions in the San Bruno investigations by year-end. Previously, our view had been that the CPUC would feel some pressure to resolve the cases by then. Absent that, it is not clear to us when we should expect CPUC action given the open-ended nature of the cases.”

“The other CPUC issues (ex parte violation disclosures, parties seeking extensive email disclosures from the company, the GT&S case) remain pending as well in addition to the federal criminal case,” according to the analyst note.

Arnold noted that “with PCG’s recent performance, we feel that we would need to support a premium valuation to maintain our Buy rating, and given the issues mentioned above, we do not feel compelled to push for a premium at this time.”

Arnold concluded that he continued “to believe that ultimately PCG can re-gain its premium valuation, but that path continues to be uncertain and potentially lengthy.”

PG&E Corporation recently traded at $52.01, up 0.13 percent.