Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG)

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 53,587 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 69% compared to the typical daily volume of 31,786 call options.

Trending Headlines about Pacific Gas & Electric

Here are the key news stories impacting Pacific Gas & Electric this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PCG reported Q2 EPS of $0.40, topping estimates and improving from $0.31 a year ago, which suggests better-than-expected profitability. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investors appear encouraged by rising electricity demand from AI/data center customers and lower operating costs, both of which supported quarterly profit growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company reaffirmed FY2026 EPS guidance of $1.64 to $1.66, broadly in line with expectations, signaling management confidence in its outlook. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue missed estimates at $5.9 billion versus $6.2 billion expected, which partially offsets the earnings beat and may limit upside. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusual call-option buying suggests some traders are positioning for continued upside ahead of the earnings call, but this is not fundamental news by itself.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher wildfire-safety spending and ongoing regulatory risks remain a drag on sentiment, even with the earnings beat. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on PCG. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.30.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Performance

Shares of PCG stock opened at $17.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $47.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.97. Pacific Gas & Electric has a 12-month low of $13.31 and a 12-month high of $19.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 11.44%.The business had revenue of $5.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Pacific Gas & Electric has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.640-1.660 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Pacific Gas & Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.50%.

Insider Transactions at Pacific Gas & Electric

In related news, EVP Jason M. Glickman sold 47,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.35, for a total value of $772,766.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 136,433 shares in the company, valued at $2,230,679.55. The trade was a 25.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Gas & Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PCG. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 62,134,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,019,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,249 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 366.6% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,984,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,443,000 after buying an additional 2,345,120 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in Pacific Gas & Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,967,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in 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 valued at $10,329,000 after buying an additional 4,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 59.5% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 468,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,522,000 after acquiring an additional 174,564 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.