D.A. Davidson & CO. Purchases 45,430 Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG)

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 446.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,599 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 45,430 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Pacific Gas & Electric were worth $955,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 55.6% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 77,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 27,832 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Pacific Gas & Electric by 431.2% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,469 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 2,816 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 738.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 176,043 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,024,000 after purchasing an additional 155,052 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 38.1% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,316 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 138.8% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 254,549 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,373,000 after purchasing an additional 147,964 shares during the period. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pacific Gas & Electric

In other Pacific Gas & Electric news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.30, for a total value of $562,578.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 151,116 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,614,306.80. This trade represents a 17.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PCG. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $18.00 price target on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.73.

Pacific Gas & Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PCG traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $13.51. 28,091,098 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,576,430. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has a 12 month low of $13.34 and a 12 month high of $21.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $15.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.53. The firm has a market cap of $36.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.55.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $5.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.23 billion. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 9.81%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Pacific Gas & Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.17%.

About Pacific Gas & Electric

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.