Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Barclays

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

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Public Service Enterprise Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.83.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Up 0.2 %

PEG stock opened at $81.87 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $40.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.07. Public Service Enterprise Group has a 1-year low of $57.24 and a 1-year high of $95.22.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a $0.60 dividend. 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 Activity

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 5,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.95, for a total transaction of $518,905.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 25,829 shares in the company, valued at $2,271,660.55. This trade represents a 18.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Kim C. Hanemann sold 956 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $86,126.04. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 70,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,290.99. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,234 shares of company stock worth $722,037. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,829,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,051,744,000 after purchasing an additional 49,285 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 19.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,401,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $481,825,000 after purchasing an additional 877,345 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 125.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,384,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $285,982,000 after buying an additional 1,882,667 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,951,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $263,315,000 after buying an additional 19,650 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 30.1% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,869,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $255,954,000 after buying an additional 663,012 shares during the last quarter. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Public Service Enterprise Group Company Profile

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.