Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) Upgraded at Truist Financial

Key Points

• Truist Financial upgraded Pacific Gas & Electric to a "strong-buy", while the consensus among analysts remains a "Moderate Buy" with a $21.50 average price target amid mixed recent ratings.
• Shares opened at $17.03 (down about 1.9%); PG&E reported EPS of $0.36 that met estimates but revenue of $6.80 billion missed expectations, and the stock trades with a market cap of $37.4 billion and a PE of 14.43.
• Company insiders have sold roughly 84,286 shares (about $1.53M) in the past 90 days, even as several institutional investors—most notably SG Americas—significantly increased their positions.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Truist Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on PCG. Morgan Stanley set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Mizuho set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.50.

Pacific Gas & Electric Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric stock opened at $17.03 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.97 and a 200-day moving average of $16.62. The stock has a market cap of $37.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.34. Pacific Gas & Electric has a 52-week low of $12.97 and a 52-week high of $19.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36. Pacific Gas & Electric had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 11.28%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pacific Gas & Electric will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pacific Gas & Electric news, EVP Carla J. Peterman sold 31,786 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.31, for a total transaction of $582,001.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 195,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,572,116.21. The trade was a 14.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Simon sold 45,607 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $820,926.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 392,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,061,454. The trade was a 10.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 84,286 shares of company stock valued at $1,528,746. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 366.6% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,984,809 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $52,443,000 after purchasing an additional 2,345,120 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $28,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 62,134,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,019,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,249 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 499.7% during the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 433,064 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,037,000 after purchasing an additional 360,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 947,127 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,264,000 after purchasing an additional 315,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.56% of the company's stock.

About Pacific Gas & Electric

Pacific Gas & Electric NYSE: PCG is an investor-owned utility holding company whose principal operating subsidiary, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, provides electricity and natural gas service in northern and central California. The company's core activities include the generation, procurement, transmission and distribution of electric power, as well as the transmission and distribution of natural gas. PG&E serves a broad mix of residential, commercial, and industrial customers across urban and rural communities within its California service territory.

PG&E's operations encompass utility infrastructure planning and construction, grid operations, customer service and energy procurement.

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