Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

PCG has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Pacific Gas & Electric from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Pacific Gas & Electric to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.55.

Pacific Gas & Electric Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:PCG opened at $15.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.78 and its 200-day moving average is $15.36. The company has a market cap of $34.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.38. Pacific Gas & Electric has a 52-week low of $12.97 and a 52-week high of $17.95.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.33 billion. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 10.93%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Pacific Gas & Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Pacific Gas & Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.81%.

Insider Activity

In other Pacific Gas & Electric news, Director John O. Larsen purchased 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.96 per share, for a total transaction of $119,700.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 18,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $289,051.56. The trade was a 70.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,735 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 3,240.8% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Pacific Gas & Electric during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Pacific Gas & Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at about $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.