Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $94.67 and last traded at $94.51, with a volume of 2657651 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $93.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on PEG shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research report on Friday, September 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.69.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 1.6 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $88.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.09 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.61.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $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, analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.20, for a total transaction of $124,295.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 147,514 shares in the company, valued at $13,305,762.80. This trade represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Tamara Louise Linde sold 9,563 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.54, for a total transaction of $760,641.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,610,217.94. This represents a 14.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,739 shares of company stock valued at $2,467,753 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Public Service Enterprise Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,829,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,051,744,000 after acquiring an additional 49,285 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 19.4% during the third 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,951,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $263,315,000 after acquiring an additional 19,650 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 30.1% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,869,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $255,954,000 after acquiring an additional 663,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 7.2% during the third quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 2,427,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $216,543,000 after acquiring an additional 162,731 shares during the last quarter. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.