Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) Stock: Insider Mark Ferguson III Sells 8,675 Shares

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) Director Mark Ferguson III sold 8,675 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.22, for a total value of $114,683.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $26,440. This trade represents a 81.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Performance

NYSE PCG traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 20,064,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,181,124. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has a 12 month low of $11.77 and a 12 month high of $19.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $35.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.17.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.01). Pacific Gas & Electric had a net margin of 12.00% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The company had revenue of $6.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Pacific Gas & Electric’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Pacific Gas & Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PCG shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Pacific Gas & Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Pacific Gas & Electric from $19.00 to $14.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. dropped their price target on Pacific Gas & Electric from $22.00 to $15.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.21.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Gas & Electric

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCG. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Pacific Gas & Electric by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 19.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 6,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 1,088 shares during the last quarter. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Pacific Gas & Electric in the second quarter worth $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric by 5.9% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 41,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $734,000 after buying an additional 2,313 shares during the period. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Pacific Gas & Electric during the second quarter worth $57,000. Institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company Profile

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is a regulated utility that provides electricity and natural gas to homes and businesses in Northern and Central California. Its services include generating, purchasing, transmitting and distributing electricity, as well as delivering natural gas through its pipeline network. The utility is a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation, whose common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PCG. The company traces its roots to California’s early gas and electric utilities and was incorporated in 1905.