PG&E stock plummets 30 percent, closes trading at all-time low
OAKLAND, Calif. - The price of one share of PG&E stock ended trading Friday at $5.00 per share, down from Thursday's closing price of $7.20 per share, a decline of 30.56%, which is a new all-time low closing price for the stock.
A research note published by Citigroup analyst Praful Mehta Friday stated that "Kincade [fire] increases the probability of a zero share price."
The note comes a day after PG&E admitted their equipment may have started the 21,900-acre Kincade fire, currently 5% contained and continuing to spread in Sonoma County.
While PG&E CEO Bill Johnson downplayed the possibility that his company sparked the Kincade Fire during a Thursday evening press conference, investors appeared to have connected the dots on Friday, prompting a massive sell-off of the stock on an otherwise upbeat day for the markets.
PG&E filed for bankruptcy restructuring on January 29, 2019, and reported owing approximately $17.469 billion in upcoming bond obligations. The company is also facing billions more in payments to wildfire victims.
The San Francisco-based company is the state's largest utility.