Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $92.38 and last traded at $92.30, with a volume of 671909 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.49.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $62.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of 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, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.69.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.61.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Kim C. Hanemann sold 956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $86,126.04. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 70,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,307,290.99. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 5,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.95, for a total value of $518,905.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,271,660.55. This represents a 18.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,739 shares of company stock worth $2,467,753 over the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Public Service Enterprise Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 315.2% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,206,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,590,000 after acquiring an additional 1,674,827 shares during the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the second quarter worth about $71,298,000. FMR LLC grew its stake 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 worth $481,825,000 after acquiring an additional 877,345 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 43.2% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,426,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $178,763,000 after acquiring an additional 732,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 79.5% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,502,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $134,006,000 after purchasing an additional 665,105 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.