Strs Ohio Sells 436,979 Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. $PCG

Strs Ohio lessened its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG) by 37.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 737,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 436,979 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Pacific Gas & Electric were worth $11,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PCG. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Pacific Gas & Electric by 3.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 58,079,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $819,447,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,093 shares in the last quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 510.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC now owns 960,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,389,000 after acquiring an additional 803,000 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake 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 worth $6,037,000 after purchasing an additional 360,845 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Pacific Gas & Electric by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 4,497,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,694,000 after purchasing an additional 189,353 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Pacific Gas & Electric by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 5,799,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,851,000 after purchasing an additional 111,125 shares during the last quarter. 78.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pacific Gas & Electric Stock Performance

PCG opened at $14.91 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.40. The company has a market capitalization of $32.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.38. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has a 1 year low of $12.97 and a 1 year high of $17.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. Pacific Gas & Electric had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 10.93%.The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Pacific Gas & Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This is a positive change from Pacific Gas & Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Pacific Gas & Electric’s payout ratio is 16.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pacific Gas & Electric news, Director John O. Larsen acquired 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.96 per share, for a total transaction of $119,700.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 18,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $289,051.56. This trade represents a 70.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PCG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho set a $21.00 price target on Pacific Gas & Electric in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Pacific Gas & Electric from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Pacific Gas & Electric from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pacific Gas & Electric has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.64.

Pacific Gas & Electric Profile

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.