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

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $23.00 to $24.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

PCG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.64.

Pacific Gas & Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PCG opened at $15.08 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Pacific Gas & Electric has a 1-year low of $12.97 and a 1-year high of $17.95. The company has a market cap of $33.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Pacific Gas & Electric Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John O. Larsen acquired 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.96 per share, with a total value of $119,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 18,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $289,051.56. The trade was a 70.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Gas & Electric

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 3,875.9% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 639,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,280,000 after purchasing an additional 623,600 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 168.2% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 293,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after buying an additional 184,086 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 350.0% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 9,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 7,700 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 0.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 684,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,329,000 after buying an additional 4,248 shares during the last quarter. 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.