Scotiabank Cuts Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) Price Target to $62.00

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

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on PEG. Guggenheim cut shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $61.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Public Service Enterprise Group has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $67.15.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 1.1 %

PEG opened at $67.23 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $33.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.18. Public Service Enterprise Group has a one year low of $53.71 and a one 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.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 22.81%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s revenue was down 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $86,562.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 153,721 shares in the company, valued at $9,684,423. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 completion of 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 value of $308,064.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,409.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,948 shares of company stock worth $511,814. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Public Service Enterprise Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PEG. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 79.9% during the 1st quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357 shares in the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC increased its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 4.7% during the first quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 79,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,316,000 after buying an additional 3,554 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 51.8% during the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,043 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Bank purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the first quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the first quarter worth about $4,107,000. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.