Readystate Asset Management LP Takes $1.50 Million Position in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new position in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 87,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,495,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PCG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $591,625,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 46,805,768 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $944,540,000 after buying an additional 19,317,171 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 12,661,324 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $255,506,000 after buying an additional 5,814,624 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 244.5% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 4,706,647 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $95,066,000 after buying an additional 3,340,599 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 272.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 3,560,305 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $71,847,000 after buying an additional 2,604,445 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pacific Gas & Electric news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 32,519 shares of Pacific Gas & Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.30, for a total value of $562,578.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 151,116 shares in the company, valued at $2,614,306.80. The trade was a 17.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PCG shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Pacific Gas & Electric from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $18.00 price target on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed 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, Mizuho raised their target price on Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pacific Gas & Electric currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.55.

Pacific Gas & Electric Price Performance

NYSE PCG traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $14.09. 30,885,087 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,811,028. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has a 52-week low of $12.97 and a 52-week high of $21.72. The company has a market capitalization of $37.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm's 50-day moving average is $14.71 and its 200-day moving average is $15.94.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.02). Pacific Gas & Electric had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 10.35%. The business had revenue of $5.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Pacific Gas & Electric's payout ratio is 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.