Barclays Downgrades Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) to Equal Weight

Barclays cut shares of Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $84.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $88.00.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on PEG. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Public Service Enterprise Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.83.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

PEG opened at $81.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $87.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.07. Public Service Enterprise Group has a 52-week low of $57.24 and a 52-week high of $95.22.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The business had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total value of $117,005.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 144,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,245,040.92. This trade represents a 0.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 5,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.95, for a total value of $518,905.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,271,660.55. This represents a 18.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,234 shares of company stock worth $722,037 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Public Service Enterprise Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Consolidated Planning Corp boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 5,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 22,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after buying an additional 794 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter valued at $875,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 103.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 950,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,313,000 after buying an additional 483,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

About Public Service Enterprise Group

Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, operates in electric and gas utility business in the United States. It operates through PSE&G and PSEG Power segments. The PSE&G segment transmits electricity; distributes electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers; and appliance services and repairs to customers through its service territory, as well as invests in solar generation projects, and energy efficiency and related programs.