Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) PT Raised to $80.00 at Mizuho

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) had its price objective raised by Mizuho from $65.00 to $80.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on PEG. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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 increased their price target 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an overweight rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $61.00) on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $68.31.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of PEG opened at $75.04 on Thursday. Public Service Enterprise Group has a twelve month low of $53.71 and a twelve month high of $75.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.01). Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. Public Service Enterprise Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $1,997,409.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $86,562.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 153,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,684,423. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total transaction of $308,064.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,409.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,322 shares of company stock worth $607,376 over the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Public Service Enterprise Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 33,020,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,879,225,000 after purchasing an additional 726,613 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,049,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $401,173,000 after purchasing an additional 87,974 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,156,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $350,395,000 after purchasing an additional 170,586 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 4.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,612,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $319,407,000 after purchasing an additional 221,071 shares during the period. 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.