PG&E, Edison tumble after California wildfire bill changes spark downgrades
BUZZ-PG&E, Edison tumble after California wildfire bill changes spark downgrades Updates
** Shares of California utilities fall after state lawmakers amend Senate Bill 492, preserving insurers' ability to recover wildfire-related claims from utilities
** PG&E Corp PCG.N down 19%, set for its biggest percentage drop in more than six years; Edison International EIX.N down 18.9%, set for its steepest percentage drop since April 2001
** Shares of Sempra down 4.8%
** Mizuho cuts ratings on PCG and EIX to "neutral" from "outperform"; lowers PTs to $16 from $21 and $70 from $86, respectively
** TD Cowen says the legislation offers "no meaningful incremental benefit" for utilities versus the current framework
** BMO downgrades PG&E to "market perform" from "outperform"; cuts PT to $21 from $28
** PG&E says the bill does not adequately address financing risks tied to California's wildfire liability framework; says it will host a call on Sept. 2 to discuss the legislation
** Including session's moves, PCG down 15.5% YTD, EIX down 5.4% and SRE down 9.5%
(Reporting by Darshan Kumar and Varun Sahay in Bangalore)