Pacific Gas & Electric Co. $PCG Stock Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group cut its PG&E stake by 4.4% in the third quarter, selling 226,841 shares; it still held nearly 4.98 million shares valued at about $61 million.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $17.21; seven analysts rate the stock Buy and nine rate it Hold.
• PG&E’s latest quarterly results fell short of estimates: earnings were $0.41 per share versus $0.42 expected, and revenue was $6.19 billion versus $6.82 billion forecast.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,976,438 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 226,841 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Pacific Gas & Electric worth $60,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Pacific Gas & Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $300,895,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Pacific Gas & Electric during the second quarter worth approximately $398,915,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Pacific Gas & Electric during the second quarter worth approximately $320,820,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in Pacific Gas & Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $314,855,000. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new position in Pacific Gas & Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $188,513,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PCG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their price target on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $22.00 to $15.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of 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 target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pacific Gas & Electric presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.21.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of PCG opened at $13.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.21. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has a 52 week low of $11.77 and a 52 week high of $19.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.17.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.41 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $6.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Pacific Gas & Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.81%.

Insider Activity at Pacific Gas & Electric

In other news, Director John Larsen acquired 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.20 per share, for a total transaction of $91,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 36,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $447,557. This trade represents a 25.70% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William Fugate sold 6,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total value of $89,440.00. Following the sale, the director owned 73,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,011,772.80. This represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company Profile

PG&E Corporation NYSE: PCG is the holding company for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a regulated utility that provides electricity and natural gas delivery services in Northern and Central California. Its operations include maintaining and operating electric transmission and distribution networks, natural gas pipelines, substations, and other infrastructure used to serve residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural customers.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company serves a broad portion of California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Valley, and parts of the northern and central regions of the state.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.