Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on PEG. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $82.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.58.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of PEG stock traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $77.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,259,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,706,197. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $82.07 and a 200-day moving average of $85.87. Public Service Enterprise Group has a twelve month low of $64.03 and a twelve month high of $95.22. The stock has a market cap of $38.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.52.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.01. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Public Service Enterprise Group’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.88, for a total transaction of $114,208.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 221,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,372,009.60. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Public Service Enterprise Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,775,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,134,882,000 after buying an additional 492,517 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,195,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,027,725,000 after purchasing an additional 365,666 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,525,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $551,323,000 after purchasing an additional 604,978 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,807,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $490,644,000 after buying an additional 335,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at $445,005,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

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.