Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) Given New $19.50 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $20.00 to $19.50 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Pacific Gas & Electric to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pacific Gas & Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.15.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Performance

NYSE PCG opened at $14.42 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $14.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.59. The company has a market capitalization of $38.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.57. Pacific Gas & Electric has a 1 year low of $12.97 and a 1 year high of $21.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.02). Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 9.95%.The firm had revenue of $5.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Pacific Gas & Electric has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.480-1.520 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Pacific Gas & Electric’s payout ratio is currently 9.17%.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Gas & Electric

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Pacific Gas & Electric by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 257,285,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,420,162,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,384 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pacific Gas & Electric by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 58,079,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $819,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,676,093 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,944,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $342,643,000 after purchasing an additional 818,377 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 352.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,172,519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $329,384,000 after buying an additional 14,933,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sessa Capital IM L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric during the 1st quarter worth approximately $320,984,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

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.