Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.73.

PCG has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Pacific Gas & Electric from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Pacific Gas & Electric from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Pacific Gas & Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PCG opened at $13.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Pacific Gas & Electric has a 1-year low of $13.34 and a 1-year high of $21.72. The company has a market capitalization of $37.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $15.86 and a 200-day moving average of $16.67.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.23 billion. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 9.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Pacific Gas & Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.30, for a total transaction of $562,578.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 151,116 shares in the company, valued at $2,614,306.80. This trade represents a 17.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Gas & Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its holdings in Pacific Gas & Electric by 45.0% in the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 42,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 4,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 38,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company Profile

PG&E Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers. It specializes in energy, utility, power, gas, electricity, solar and sustainability. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.