Swiss National Bank Increases Stake in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG)

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. by 7.9%, owning 6,186,700 shares valued at approximately $106.3 million.
• Pacific Gas & Electric's recent earnings report showed EPS of $0.31, missing expectations, with revenues down 1.5% year-over-year at $5.90 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.025 per share, yielding 0.7% with a low payout ratio of 9.17%.

Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,186,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 450,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.23% of Pacific Gas & Electric worth $106,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric during the first quarter valued at $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 1,233.6% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 45.0% during the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,173 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 563.0% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 198.1% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.56% of the company's stock.

Pacific Gas & Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PCG opened at $14.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $40.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.77. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.97 and a fifty-two week high of $21.72.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.02). Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Pacific Gas & Electric's payout ratio is 9.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Argus raised Pacific Gas & Electric to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Friday, April 25th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pacific Gas & Electric has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.55.

Pacific Gas & Electric 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.

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