PG&E soars after filing for bankruptcy protection (PCG)

PG&E soared Tuesday after filing for bankruptcy protection. The company is the largest power utility in the US.
PG&E endured an estimated $16.5 billion in losses from the unprecedented California Camp Fire last year.
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PG&E , the largest power utility in the US, soared 17% Tuesday after filing for bankruptcy protection.

PG&E is estimated to have lost $16.5 billion in total from last year's unprecedented Camp fire in California. Reinsurance company Munich Re pegged the fire as the world's most expensive natural disaster of 2018, Reuters reported .

"We believe the process is likely to be lengthy," UBS analyst Daniel Ford told clients in a note out Tuesday. "There are a wide range of outcomes from PG&E being a solvent creditor with some equity value intact to little or no equity value." He maintained his $8 per share price target and "neutral" rating.

Shares of PG&E plunged earlier this month after the company announced it planned to file for bankruptcy protection; the utility was accused of having been negligent in the devastating Camp fire. Since the stock's 52-week high of $49.42 a share in early November, the stock has lost 71% of its market value.

The Camp Fire was the the deadliest and most destructive in California's history, killing 88 people, according to Reuters. The wildfire caused insurers more than $11.4 billion in losses , the California Insurance Commissioner said Monday.

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