Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) Stock Price

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) had its price objective lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $23.00 to $24.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on PCG. Morgan Stanley set a $21.00 price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Pacific Gas & Electric from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pacific Gas & Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.64.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Performance

Pacific Gas & Electric stock opened at $15.25 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $33.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.38. Pacific Gas & Electric has a 12-month low of $12.97 and a 12-month high of $17.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $15.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.37.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 10.93%.The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Pacific Gas & Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Pacific Gas & Electric’s payout ratio is currently 16.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pacific Gas & Electric

In related news, Director John O. Larsen bought 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.96 per share, with a total value of $119,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 18,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $289,051.56. This trade represents a 70.68% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Gas & Electric

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PCG. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Pacific Gas & Electric by 3,875.9% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 639,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,280,000 after buying an additional 623,600 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 168.2% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 293,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after purchasing an additional 184,086 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 350.0% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 9,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,700 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 0.6% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 684,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,329,000 after purchasing an additional 4,248 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

About Pacific Gas & Electric

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE: PCG) is an investor-owned utility holding company whose principal operating subsidiary, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, provides electricity and natural gas service in northern and central California. The company’s core activities include the generation, procurement, transmission and distribution of electric power, as well as the transmission and distribution of natural gas. PG&E serves a broad mix of residential, commercial, and industrial customers across urban and rural communities within its California service territory.

PG&E’s operations encompass utility infrastructure planning and construction, grid operations, customer service and energy procurement.