Scotiabank Raises Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) Price Target to $86.00

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) had its price target raised by Scotiabank from $73.00 to $86.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on PEG. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $98.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.17.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of PEG opened at $85.95 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.26. Public Service Enterprise Group has a twelve month low of $56.85 and a twelve month high of $95.22. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $42.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 147,514 shares in the company, valued at $13,305,762.80. This represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tamara Louise Linde sold 9,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.61, for a total value of $866,594.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,385,252.17. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,798 shares of company stock valued at $1,595,921 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Public Service Enterprise Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the second quarter worth $422,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the third quarter worth about $8,244,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 96,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,575,000 after purchasing an additional 25,503 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,965,000. Finally, Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $723,000. Institutional investors 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.