Kerry Whorton Cooper Sells 2,500 Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) Stock

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) Director Kerry Whorton Cooper sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.68, for a total value of $46,700.00. Following the sale, the director owned 73,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,366,273.88. This represents a 3.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PCG opened at $18.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.33. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has a one year low of $12.97 and a one year high of $19.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. Pacific Gas & Electric had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 11.28%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Pacific Gas & Electric’s payout ratio is presently 16.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Mizuho set a $21.00 target price on Pacific Gas & Electric in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Pacific Gas & Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Gas & Electric

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tobam acquired a new position in Pacific Gas & Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 59.5% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 468,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,522,000 after buying an additional 174,564 shares in the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 96.5% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 54,474 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 9,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 2,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Syon Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 9.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company Profile

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.