Pacific Gas & Electric Co. $PCG Shares Sold by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its position in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 64.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 150,000 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Pacific Gas & Electric were worth $1,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PCG. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 23.6% during the third quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 81,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 15,622 shares during the last quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric during the second quarter worth about $1,818,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric during the second quarter worth about $6,210,000. Glenview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric during the second quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in the second quarter worth about $8,566,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PCG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Pacific Gas & Electric from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on Pacific Gas & Electric from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $20.00 price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $24.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.21.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric stock opened at $13.23 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.15. The company has a market cap of $35.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.80, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.17. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has a 12-month low of $11.77 and a 12-month high of $19.16.

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

Pacific Gas & Electric Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Pacific Gas & Electric

In related news, Director William Fugate sold 6,500 shares of Pacific Gas & Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total transaction of $89,440.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 73,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,011,772.80. The trade was a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John O. Larsen purchased 7,500 shares of Pacific Gas & Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.20 per share, for a total transaction of $91,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 36,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $447,557. This trade represents a 25.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Pacific Gas & Electric

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.