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

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $70.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $61.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, December 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $66.38.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Performance

Shares of PEG stock opened at $66.65 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.12. Public Service Enterprise Group has a 12-month low of $53.71 and a 12-month high of $66.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 22.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.78%.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 13.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,673,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,509,864,000 after acquiring an additional 7,103,657 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at $215,074,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 259.8% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,504,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $275,973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,252,500 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 159.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,497,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $152,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 196.2% in the first quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,892,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $132,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,283 shares during the period. 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.