Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) Price Target Raised to $24.00

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) had its target price hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on PCG. Mizuho set a $21.00 target price on Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on 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. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Eight 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.36.

Pacific Gas & Electric Trading Down 4.6%

Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric stock opened at $17.36 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $17.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.22. Pacific Gas & Electric has a 12-month low of $12.97 and a 12-month high of $19.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $38.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.33.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.36. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.05 billion. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 11.28% and a net margin of 10.84%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Pacific Gas & Electric’s payout ratio is 16.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pacific Gas & Electric news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 31,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.31, for a total transaction of $582,001.66. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 195,091 shares in the company, valued at $3,572,116.21. This represents a 14.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Simon sold 45,607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $820,926.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 392,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,061,454. This trade represents a 10.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 84,286 shares of company stock worth $1,528,746 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 1.9% during 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 buying an additional 1,132,249 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 4.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 4,497,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,694,000 after acquiring an additional 189,353 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $28,967,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 947,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,264,000 after acquiring an additional 315,133 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 684,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,329,000 after acquiring an additional 4,248 shares in the last quarter. 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.