Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) Given New $62.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) had its price target trimmed by Scotiabank from $64.00 to $62.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

PEG has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $61.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $61.00) on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $67.15.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Public Service Enterprise Group stock opened at $66.71 on Monday. Public Service Enterprise Group has a 1 year low of $53.71 and a 1 year high of $67.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $63.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.08. The company has a market cap of $33.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.58.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 22.81% and a return on equity of 11.53%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is 46.78%.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

In related news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total value of $308,064.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,997,409.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.37, for a total value of $91,192.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,347 shares in the company, valued at $10,111,270.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total value of $308,064.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,997,409.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,748 shares of company stock valued at $498,658. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 13.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,673,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,509,864,000 after purchasing an additional 7,103,657 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter worth about $215,074,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 118.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,364,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,544,000 after buying an additional 738,684 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 562.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 869,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,504,000 after buying an additional 738,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 33,020,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,879,225,000 after buying an additional 726,613 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.