PG&E, Edison tumble after California wildfire bill changes spark downgrades
PCG•Brokerage downgrades and company comments
Mizuho cut ratings on PCG and EIX to "neutral" from "outperform" and lowered price targets to $16 from $21 and $70 from $86, respectively.
TD Cowen said the legislation offers "no meaningful incremental benefit" for utilities versus the current framework.
BMO downgraded PG&E to "market perform" from "outperform" and cut its price target to $21 from $28.
PG&E said the bill does not adequately address financing risks tied to California's wildfire liability framework and said it will host a call on Sept. 2 to discuss the legislation.
California utility shares slide after wildfire bill changes
Shares of California utilities fell after state lawmakers amended Senate Bill 492, preserving insurers' ability to recover wildfire-related claims from utilities.
PG&E Corp PCG.N was down 19%, set for its biggest percentage drop in more than six years; Edison International EIX.N was down 18.9%, set for its steepest percentage drop since April 2001. Shares of Sempra were down 4.8%.
Including the session's moves, PCG was down 15.5% year to date, EIX down 5.4% and SRE down 9.5%.
