LPL Financial LLC Has $45.05 Million Stock Position in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. by 26.5%, bringing its total shares to approximately 2.62 million valued at $45 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• A variety of institutional investors have made significant changes to their positions, with notable increases such as 1,233.6% by True Wealth Design LLC during the fourth quarter.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Pacific Gas & Electric, projecting an average target price of $20.55 amid mixed ratings from different brokerages.

LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 26.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,622,295 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 549,192 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.10% of Pacific Gas & Electric worth $45,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 6.0% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 37,007 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 2.8% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 873,035 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,999,000 after purchasing an additional 24,096 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 203.3% during the first quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 508,341 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,642,000 after purchasing an additional 340,761 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 217.6% during the first quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 41,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $706,000 after purchasing an additional 28,174 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 122,313 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 30,438 shares in the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Pacific Gas & Electric to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. One investment 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.55.

Pacific Gas & Electric Trading Up 6.7%

NYSE PCG traded up $0.94 on Monday, reaching $15.06. The company had a trading volume of 52,246,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,278,308. The firm has a market cap of $40.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.54. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.97 and a fifty-two week high of $21.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. Pacific Gas & Electric had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 10.13%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.025 dividend. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Pacific Gas & Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.17%.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company Profile

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.