Public Service Enterprise Group’s (PEG) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $70.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $61.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on PEG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, December 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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 report on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 report on Tuesday, March 19th. TheStreet raised shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $66.38.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Up 1.7 %

PEG stock opened at $66.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Public Service Enterprise Group has a 1-year low of $53.71 and a 1-year high of $66.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.12. The firm has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.57.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 22.81% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. This is an increase from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 7th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $86,562.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 153,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,684,423. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $86,562.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 153,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,684,423. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total value of $308,064.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,409.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,574 shares of company stock valued at $419,108. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Public Service Enterprise Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PEG. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,318,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,310,000 after purchasing an additional 83,174 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $798,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.