SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 623,600 Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. $PCG

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 3,875.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 639,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 623,600 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Pacific Gas & Electric were worth $10,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 168.2% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 293,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 184,086 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 350.0% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 9,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,700 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 684,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,329,000 after acquiring an additional 4,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 97,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,464,000 after acquiring an additional 17,595 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Pacific Gas & Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $23.00 target price on Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pacific Gas & Electric

In other Pacific Gas & Electric news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 31,786 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.31, for a total transaction of $582,001.66. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 195,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,572,116.21. The trade was a 14.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kerry Whorton Cooper sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.68, for a total transaction of $46,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 73,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,366,273.88. This represents a 3.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 84,286 shares of company stock worth $1,528,746. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Pacific Gas & Electric Price Performance

Shares of PCG opened at $17.17 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.97. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has a 52-week low of $12.97 and a 52-week high of $19.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.33.

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

Pacific Gas & Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. 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.