Pacific Gas & Electric Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:PCG)

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 114,248 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 245% compared to the typical daily volume of 33,107 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jason M. Glickman sold 47,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.35, for a total transaction of $772,766.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 136,433 shares in the company, valued at $2,230,679.55. This trade represents a 25.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Gas & Electric

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Pacific Gas & Electric during the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 16.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 46,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 6,601 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in Pacific Gas & Electric by 41.2% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 185,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,184,000 after buying an additional 54,033 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 93.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 83,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after buying an additional 40,380 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 499.7% during the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 433,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,037,000 after buying an additional 360,845 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PCG shares. Morgan Stanley set a $22.00 target price on Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Pacific Gas & Electric from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $19.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.10.

Pacific Gas & Electric Price Performance

Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric stock traded up $0.17 on Tuesday, hitting $16.80. 21,511,774 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,570,352. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. The company has a market cap of $45.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.27. Pacific Gas & Electric has a 12-month low of $12.97 and a 12-month high of $19.16.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.04. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 11.44%.The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Pacific Gas & Electric has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.640-1.660 EPS. Analysts expect that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Pacific Gas & Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.50%.

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.