Jefferies Financial Group Reiterates “Hold” Rating for Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG)

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $19.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $20.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 9.60% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Mizuho set a $21.00 target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group raised shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.27.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:PCG opened at $17.34 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $17.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.26. 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 has a 12-month low of $12.97 and a 12-month high of $19.16. The firm has a market cap of $38.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.33.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.36. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.05 billion. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 11.28% and a net margin of 10.84%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pacific Gas & Electric

In other news, EVP John R. Simon sold 45,607 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 392,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,061,454. This represents a 10.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 31,786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.31, for a total transaction of $582,001.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 195,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,572,116.21. This represents a 14.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 84,286 shares of company stock valued at $1,528,746 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pacific Gas & Electric

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinebridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in Pacific Gas & Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 62,134,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,019,297,000 after buying an additional 1,132,249 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 3,875.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 639,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,280,000 after buying an additional 623,600 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 499.7% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 947,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,264,000 after buying an additional 315,133 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.