Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.5455.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Gas & Electric

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PCG. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 947,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,264,000 after purchasing an additional 315,133 shares in the last quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric by 510.0% in the second quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC now owns 960,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,389,000 after buying an additional 803,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 3.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 58,079,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $819,447,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,093 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 4.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 4,497,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,694,000 after acquiring an additional 189,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 23.6% during the second quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,174,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,371,000 after acquiring an additional 223,904 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE PCG opened at $16.42 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $36.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.36. Pacific Gas & Electric has a 52 week low of $12.97 and a 52 week high of $17.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.55.

Pacific Gas & Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Pacific Gas & Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Pacific Gas & Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.81%.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company Profile

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.