Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) Stock Price

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by stock analysts at Barclays from $84.00 to $83.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Barclays's target price would suggest a potential upside of 1.04% from the company's previous close.

PEG has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank lifted 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 research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $98.00 target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Public Service Enterprise Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.35.

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Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Performance

PEG traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.14. 2,495,281 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,723,072. Public Service Enterprise Group has a 1-year low of $64.03 and a 1-year high of $95.22. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $40.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.52. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $81.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.72.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.01. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total value of $114,511.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,791 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,536,332.10. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Public Service Enterprise Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 492,517 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,195,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,027,725,000 after buying an additional 365,666 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,525,305 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $551,323,000 after acquiring an additional 604,978 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,807,124 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $490,644,000 after purchasing an additional 335,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at $445,005,000. 73.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.