Investors Buy Large Volume of Pacific Gas & Electric Call Options (NYSE:PCG)

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 334,812 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,144% compared to the average daily volume of 26,910 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price target on Pacific Gas & Electric from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Pacific Gas & Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Pacific Gas & Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.40.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Down 1.3%

PCG stock opened at $16.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $44.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.29. Pacific Gas & Electric has a fifty-two week low of $12.97 and a fifty-two week high of $19.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.46 and a 200-day moving average of $16.63.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.04. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 11.44%.The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Pacific Gas & Electric has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.640-1.660 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Pacific Gas & Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jason M. Glickman sold 47,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.35, for a total transaction of $772,766.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 136,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,679.55. This trade represents a 25.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Simon sold 45,607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $820,926.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 392,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,061,454. This represents a 10.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 131,550 shares of company stock valued at $2,301,512. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Titleist Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 43,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $661,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the period. FreeGulliver LLC boosted its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. FreeGulliver LLC now owns 13,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 42,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 9,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares during the period. 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.