Wall Street Zen Upgrades Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) to Buy

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

PCG has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $21.00 price target on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Pacific Gas & Electric from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.55.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Down 1.0%

Pacific Gas & Electric stock opened at $15.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.94. Pacific Gas & Electric has a fifty-two week low of $12.97 and a fifty-two week high of $17.95. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.35.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.33 billion. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 10.93%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Pacific Gas & Electric

In other Pacific Gas & Electric news, Director John O. Larsen purchased 7,500 shares of Pacific Gas & Electric stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.96 per share, with a total value of $119,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 18,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $289,051.56. This represents a 70.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacific Gas & Electric

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC boosted its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 510.0% during the second quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC now owns 960,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,389,000 after purchasing an additional 803,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 3.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 58,079,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $819,447,000 after buying an additional 1,676,093 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 4,497,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,694,000 after purchasing an additional 189,353 shares during the period. Strs Ohio boosted its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,174,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,371,000 after buying an additional 223,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Pacific Gas & Electric in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,298,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company’s stock.

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.