Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $18.38 and last traded at $18.3450, with a volume of 7743501 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PCG shares. Mizuho set a $21.00 price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.09.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $40.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.75. 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 (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.05 billion. Pacific Gas & Electric had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 11.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Pacific Gas & Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Pacific Gas & Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.95%.

Insider Transactions at Pacific Gas & Electric

In other Pacific Gas & Electric news, EVP John R. Simon sold 45,607 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 392,303 shares in the company, valued at $7,061,454. The trade was a 10.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Pacific Gas & Electric by 59.5% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 468,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,522,000 after purchasing an additional 174,564 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 96.5% in the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 110,915 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after buying an additional 54,474 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 9,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 2,836 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC raised its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 56,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $900,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783 shares during the period. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Pacific Gas & Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 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.