PG&E Corp (PCG) — payout ratio, three ways

Fiscal year ending 2025-12-31 · sector Utilities · payout ratios computed from SEC filings, not taken from a data vendor.

Basis	Payout	Why it differs
GAAP earnings	10.7%	The basis that applies. A regulated utility earns an allowed return on its rate base, and the dividend is set against that.
Operating cash flow	3.2%	Closer to meaningful than free cash flow, but still before the capital programme the regulator expects the company to run.
Free cash flow	negative	Operating cash flow was $3,071m short of capital spending, so no ratio exists. Normal for a regulated utility funding its rate base.

Spread between highest and lowest: 7 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.

Coverage rating 77 / 100 — Adequate. ? Peer standing 47/50Direction 30/30Stability 0/20

GAAP earnings payout, last 6 years

Fiscal year	Payout
2025-12-31	10.7%
2024-12-31	3.5%
2023-12-31	0.9%
2017-12-31	62.0%
2016-12-31	66.1%
2015-12-31	98.2%

Coverage worsened sharply this year, 3.5% to 10.7%, after no clear trend before it. One year is not a trend, but it is worth knowing which direction the last one moved.

Among the 57 utilities companies here, 95% pay out a larger share on this basis — this is comfortable for the sector.

The arithmetic

GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $0.13 ÷ diluted EPS $1.18
Operating cash flow — dividends paid $277.0m ÷ operating cash flow $8,716.0m
Free cash flow — dividends paid $277.0m ÷ (operating cash flow $8,716.0m − capex $11,787.0m)

Where the figures came from

10-K filed 2026-02-12 · accession 0001004980-26-000009

Every one is public at sec.gov and free to check. That is the point — you should not have to take my word for any of it.

Caveats on this company

DPS derived from dividends paid ($0.13); no per-share tag filed

Computed by an open pipeline reading SEC XBRL directly. If any number here looks wrong to you, tell me — that is more useful to me than agreement.