Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

Key Points

• Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.50, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06, while revenue totaled $6.25 billion, slightly below expectations of $6.33 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.025 per share, which reflects an annualized dividend yield of 0.6%.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Pacific Gas & Electric, with Morgan Stanley setting a target of $21.00 and BMO Capital Markets increasing theirs to $25.00.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.33 billion. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 9.95%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Performance

Shares of PCG traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $16.38. 7,653,379 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,695,563. Pacific Gas & Electric has a twelve month low of $12.97 and a twelve month high of $21.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market cap of $43.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.58. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $15.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.48.

Pacific Gas & Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Pacific Gas & Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PCG shares. Morgan Stanley set a $21.00 price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Cowen initiated coverage on Pacific Gas & Electric in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.64.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pacific Gas & Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PCG. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 499.7% during the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 433,064 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,037,000 after buying an additional 360,845 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 41.2% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 185,324 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,184,000 after purchasing an additional 54,033 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 93.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 83,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 40,380 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 3.6% in the second quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 447,708 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,241,000 after purchasing an additional 15,473 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in the first quarter worth $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company's stock.

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.

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