Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) Stock Breaks Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.36 and traded as high as $13.52. Pacific Gas & Electric shares last traded at $13.3750, with a volume of 28,350,350 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PCG. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Pacific Gas & Electric from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Truist Financial cut Pacific Gas & Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $17.00 in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Pacific Gas & Electric from $19.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $22.00 to $15.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pacific Gas & Electric has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.21.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Up 0.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $35.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.01). Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 12.00%. The company had revenue of $6.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Pacific Gas & Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William Fugate sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total transaction of $89,440.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 73,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,011,772.80. The trade was a 8.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John O. Larsen bought 7,500 shares of Pacific Gas & Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.20 per share, with a total value of $91,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 36,685 shares in the company, valued at $447,557. This trade represents a 25.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Gas & Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Pacific Gas & Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,044,000. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,997,000. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,177,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Pacific Gas & Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,210,000. Finally, Greenland Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in the second quarter valued at $994,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company Profile

PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) is the holding company for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a regulated utility that provides electricity and natural gas delivery services in Northern and Central California. Its operations include maintaining and operating electric transmission and distribution networks, natural gas pipelines, substations, and other infrastructure used to serve residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural customers.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company serves a broad portion of California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Valley, and parts of the northern and central regions of the state.