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

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.0909.

PCG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho set a $21.00 target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Pacific Gas & Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Pacific Gas & Electric from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $23.00 price target on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Friday, February 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John R. Simon sold 45,607 shares of Pacific Gas & Electric stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $820,926.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 392,303 shares in the company, valued at $7,061,454. This trade represents a 10.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Gas & Electric

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric by 16.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 46,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $806,000 after buying an additional 6,601 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric by 41.2% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 185,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,184,000 after buying an additional 54,033 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 93.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 83,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 40,380 shares during the period. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 510.0% during the second quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC now owns 960,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,389,000 after acquiring an additional 803,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of NYSE:PCG opened at $18.11 on Friday. Pacific Gas & Electric has a fifty-two week low of $12.97 and a fifty-two week high of $19.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $39.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.33.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. Pacific Gas & Electric had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 11.28%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Pacific Gas & Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.95%.

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.