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

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCGGet Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 126,389 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 449% compared to the average volume of 23,017 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PCG shares. Morgan Stanley set a $18.00 price target on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.73.

Read Our Latest Research Report on PCG

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Performance

Shares of PCG opened at $14.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market cap of $37.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.60. Pacific Gas & Electric has a 12 month low of $13.34 and a 12 month high of $21.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $16.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.87.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCGGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.23 billion. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 9.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Pacific Gas & Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.17%.

Insider Activity at Pacific Gas & Electric

In related news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.30, for a total transaction of $562,578.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 151,116 shares in the company, valued at $2,614,306.80. The trade was a 17.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Gas & Electric

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PCG. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 131.9% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 79,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 45,504 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in Pacific Gas & Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $205,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $466,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 11,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 2,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 746.0% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 4,819 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

About Pacific Gas & Electric

(Get Free Report)

PG&E Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers. It specializes in energy, utility, power, gas, electricity, solar and sustainability. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.

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