Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) Upgraded at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on PCG. Mizuho set a $21.00 target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of 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, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.09.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Performance

NYSE:PCG opened at $18.15 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Pacific Gas & Electric has a 1 year low of $12.97 and a 1 year high of $19.16.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.28% and a net margin of 10.84%.The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Pacific Gas & Electric

In other Pacific Gas & Electric news, EVP John R. Simon sold 45,607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $820,926.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCG. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Tobam purchased a new position in Pacific Gas & Electric during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 826.2% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,735 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other 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.