Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $88.81.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEG. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 cut their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.26, for a total transaction of $109,220.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 221,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,523,831.18. This trade represents a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Public Service Enterprise Group

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

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

NYSE:PEG opened at $78.34 on Tuesday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $81.11 and a 200-day moving average of $84.76. Public Service Enterprise Group has a 52 week low of $70.28 and a 52 week high of $95.22. The company has a market capitalization of $39.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.52.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is presently 71.19%.

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.