Guggenheim Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG)

Guggenheim restated their buy rating on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $62.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $98.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.17.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of PEG stock opened at $86.81 on Wednesday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.34. Public Service Enterprise Group has a twelve month low of $56.85 and a twelve month high of $95.22. The stock has a market cap of $43.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.62.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 5,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.95, for a total value of $518,905.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,271,660.55. The trade was a 18.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Kim C. Hanemann sold 956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $86,126.04. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 70,011 shares in the company, valued at $6,307,290.99. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,798 shares of company stock worth $1,595,921. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Public Service Enterprise Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PEG. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 315.2% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,206,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674,827 shares during the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the second quarter worth about $71,298,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,401,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $481,825,000 after acquiring an additional 877,345 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 43.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,426,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $178,763,000 after acquiring an additional 732,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 79.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,502,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $134,006,000 after acquiring an additional 665,105 shares during the period. 73.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.