Public Service Enterprise Group Inc

Many top utility stocks are offering flattish potential upside due to the recent rally, based on analysts’ estimates.

AES Corporation (AES) stock, the top gainer of 2019, offers an estimated gain of just 0.5% for the next 12 months based on analysts’ target price of $17.8.

AES Corporation (AES) stock has continued last year’s uptrend in 2019 as well.

Analysts seem to be cautious about Xcel Energy stock. RBC raised Xcel Energy’s target price from $49.0 to $53.0 on January 18.

Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG) stock returned 5% last year, largely mirroring broader utilities.

Public Service Enterprise (PEG), valued at $28.2 billion, is a diversified utility that provides electricity and gas to ~4 million customers.

Dominion Energy’s (D) EV-to-EBITDA (enterprise value-to-EBITDA) multiple is 14.05x, and its five-year average EV-to-EBITDA multiple is 14.11x.

FirstEnergy (FE) stock is currently trading at an EV-to-EBITDA valuation multiple of 8.1x, which is lower than its five-year average of 9.0x.

Exelon (EXC) is currently trading at an enterprise-value-to-EBITDA valuation multiple of 8.0x, which is higher than its five-year average.

According to Wall Street analysts, FirstEnergy (FE) stock has a mean target price of $37.50. Its current market price is $36.50.

Among the 14 analysts covering PEG, three recommend it as a “strong buy,” six recommend it as a “buy,” and five recommend it as a “hold.”

FirstEnergy (FE) stock is currently trading at an EV-to-EBITDA valuation multiple of 8.0x, which is lower than its five-year historical average of 9.0x.

FirstEnergy (FE) stock has soared more than 15% in the last three months, significantly outperforming broader utilities (XLU).

FirstEnergy (FE) stock is currently trading at an EV-to-EBITDA (enterprise value to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) valuation of 8.4x.

In this series, we’re analyzing analysts’ favorite stocks from the S&P 500 Utilities Index (XLU). We’ll look at Exelon (EXC) in this part.

The Vanguard Group added net 0.46 million shares of Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG) in 4Q17.

Currently, FirstEnergy (FE) is one of the top-yielding utilities among the S&P 500 Utilities (XLU).

In this series, we’ll take a look at the top ten largest utility stocks of the S&P 500 Index. We’ll discuss their recent stock performances, valuations, and price targets.

FirstEnergy stock offers a potential gain of 10% over the next year. The stock has a mean price target of $34.47, compared with its current market price of $31.38.

In 2017, Public Service Enterprise Group stock has managed to rise nearly 20%.

Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG) has a mean price target of $48.35 against its current price level of $45.60. This indicates a possible gain of ~6.0% going forward.

FirstEnergy stock has been in a downtrend for several years—which could be why it’s trading at such a deep discount to its historical and industry averages.

FE has an estimated upside of 16%, with a price target of $33.53, as compared to its current market price of $28.91.

Hybrid utility FirstEnergy (FE) is presently trading at one of the highest dividend yields of 4.9%.

Exelon’s (EXC) leverage ratio is about 3.8x. The industry average stands around 3.5x–4.0x.

With a $34 billion market capitalization, Exelon (EXC) is the largest competitive utility.

Exelon (EXC) has outperformed peers in terms of total returns in the last 12 months.

US utilities including giants like Duke Energy (DUK) and Southern Company (SO) have done fairly well in the last few months compared to broader markets.

FirstEnergy (FE) appears to be trading at a fair valuation compared to its peers. Currently, it’s trading at an EV-to-EBITDA ratio of 7.7x.

According to analysts’ estimates, Exelon (EXC) is expected to report earnings of $0.45 per share in 4Q16. In 4Q15, it posted earnings of $0.38 per share.

Exelon will report its 4Q16 and fiscal 2016 financial results on February 8, 2017. Analysts expect it to report total revenues of $7,488 million for 4Q16.

On January 18, 2017, NRG Energy (NRG) had the highest implied volatility among the utility companies that make up the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU).

FirstEnergy’s (FE) dividends fell 13% annually in the last five years. In 2014, FE cut its quarterly dividends from $0.55 per share to $0.36 per share.

Exelon Corporation (EXC) had net debt of $34 billion at the end of 3Q16. EXC has a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 4.5x, slightly above the industry average.

FirstEnergy (FE) has been struggling during the last few years due to volatile power prices. Pennsylvania and Ohio are some of FirstEnergy’s key markets.

US utilities switched their generation from coal to low-emitting natural gas in the last few years. Among our hand-picked hybrid utilities, FirstEnergy (FE) still derives more than 55% of its power from coal.

FirstEnergy (FE) is currently trading at an EV-to-EBITDA valuation of 9x while the multiple of Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG) stands at 9.3x.

Exelon Corporation (EXC) reported its third quarter earnings on October 26, 2016. It reported earnings of $0.91 per share for the quarter.

Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG) is expected to report earnings of $0.84 per share in the third quarter of 2016. It earned $0.80 per share in 3Q15.

Southern Company will announce its 3Q16 financial results on October 31, 2016. For the quarter, analysts are expecting the company to report sales of $6 billion.

Electricity generation in the United States came in at 72.7 million MWh (megawatt-hours) in the week ended October 7, 2016.

According to analyst estimates, Exelon (EXC) has a one-year price target of $38.20, as compared to its current market price of $32.0.

Competitive utility stocks had a rough ride this year, given low wholesale power prices. But FirstEnergy has gained in the past few trading sessions.

Electricity generation in the United States rose marginally to 85.4 million MWh in the week ended September 9, 2016, driven by higher generation in the Central Industrial region.

Exelon (EXC) is currently trading at a forward dividend yield of 3.6%. Here’s what you need to know.

As of July 29, 2016, Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG) is trading at an EV-to-EBITDA (enterprise value to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) multiple of 9x.

Considering the subdued dividend growth and small expected capital gains, hybrid utilities (PEG) (FE) seem to be unattractive for investors.

Technological advancements have brought us to distributed generation, where few to no transmission lines are used.

PPL has an ambitious capital spending plan of ~$15 billion through 2020. Its regulated asset base will go from $25 billion in 2015 to $32 billion in 2020.

AEP’s free cash flow for 2015 declined to $218 million from $367 million in 2014.

American Electric Power’s total revenues in the quarter came in at $4 billion, missing analysts’ estimates. It reported revenues of $4.7 billion in the same quarter last year.

Public Service Enterprise Group’s (PEG) management reiterated its fiscal 2016 earnings guidance range of $2.80–$3.00 per share.

Among our selected group of utilities, WEC Energy Group (WEC) has the highest expected dividend growth for the next two years. It’s trading at a forward yield of 3.4%.

Utilities (VPU) with heavy unregulated operations are expected to continue to struggle in 2016 too. Weaker power prices in the unregulated domain may impact their earnings.

NextEra Energy (NEE) is trading at a comparatively lower forward dividend yield than its peers. However, it has the highest expected dividend growth in the next two years.

Though PPL reported losses in 2015 due to the spin-off of its competitive energy business, its business risk profile has improved.

Exelon (EXC) declared its 4Q15 results on February 3, 2016. It missed earnings but beat revenues compared to analysts’ estimates.

Public Service Enterprise (PEG) has a strong dividend-paying history, and it has maintained an annual dividend growth rate of 2.6% in the last five years.

Public Service Enterprise (PEG) has a $13 billion capital spending plan for the next five years. This will be mainly funded by long-term debt financing.

Given the centralized power generation model of Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG), expanding its transmission infrastructure is a necessity in order to grow.

US utilities (IDU) had a dismal performance in 2015 in part due to the fear of higher interest rates.

Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG) is aggressively increasing its generation fleet with a focus on gas and nuclear energy sources.

Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG) is one of the largest and oldest utilities in North America. Its aging infrastructure has become a serious obstacle in its growth over the last couple of years.

Electricity generation in the US came in at 70.2 million MWh in the week ended December 25. All nine census regions in the US reported a drop in electricity generation during the week.

Six of the nine census regions in the United States reported an increase in electricity generation during the week ended December 18, 2015.

All nine census regions in the US reported gains in electricity generation during the week that ended December 4.

The Southeast division is the largest division in the United States for electricity generation. It saw an increase of 482,000 MWh, or 2.8%, in electricity production to 17.5 million MWh.

the electricity generation in the US fell by 3.5% to 71.1 million mWh. Electricity generation fell in all of the nine census divisions during the week ended October 9.

Electricity generation in the United States dropped 4.7% to 83.5 million megawatt-hours during the week ending August 28.

Electricity generation in the US dropped 0.5% to 87.6 million megawatt hours during the week ended August 21. Electricity generation in five out of nine census regions fell during the week.

Covanta Holding’s southeastern Massachusetts facility is a 2,700 tons per day, 78 megawatt plant servicing 60 communities. The plant uses a technology called refuse derived fuels.

After falling by 0.9% on April 21, the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU) posted marginal gains of 0.2% on Wednesday, April 22.

While most power utilities (XLU) gained during the last week, five saw their stock prices drop. ITC Holdings (ITC) lost 2.4% to finish at $36.41.

MGE Energy rose 4.2% to end the March 13 week at $42.52 with a market capitalization of $1.5 billion. An interim report signaled strong annual earnings.

The Federal Reserve released industrial production data for February. Industrial production edged up by 0.1% in February against the expected 0.3%.

Apart from Dynegy, Public Service Enterprise Group and First Energy were the top gainers in the US power sector last week.

NextEra ranks seventh in efficiency. Yet although NextEra is not the cleanest power utility in the US, its emissions are among the lowest in the industry.

While profits from the regulated segment have grown over the years, profits from the competitive, or unregulated, segment have fallen.

The industrial sector’s electricity consumption has been strong this year, registering positive year-over-year electricity consumption growth for the last consecutive seven months.

Contrary to popular belief, falling natural gas prices affect power companies adversely. Unregulated power companies are more exposed to the risk of falling gas prices than regulated utilities.

For the current year, First Energy is trading at a higher EV/EBITDA than to its peers. However, the drop in forward EV/EBITDA multiples for First Energy is much steeper than its peers.

First Energy’s increase in debt in recent years has affected the company’s debt ratios. First Energy’s debt to equity (or DE) ratio is 1.62x. This is relatively higher than the average DE ratio of 1.32x

First Energy operates in six northeastern U.S. states. This translates to a service territory of 65,000 square miles. These states are allowed deregulation of electricity, but First Energy’s T&D network remains regulated.

By the end of 2014, AES Corporation (AES) expects to have between $1.68 billion and $1.75 billion in cash at its disposal.

Nuclear power plants contribute a high proportion of the electricity produced by Exelon. More than 50% of the company’s capacity is driven by its nuclear fleet.

Exelon is one of the best-performing stocks in the power utility industry. It’s seen gains throughout the third quarter.

Institutional investors hold most of Dominion Resources’ (D) outstanding shares. As of June 30, 2014, a total of 351.2 million shares were held by 1,069 institutions.

Electricity is the backbone of a nation’s progress. All of the industries need electricity to operate—directly or indirectly. When a business flourishes, the electricity consumption increases.

The residential and commercial sectors are the largest electricity consumers. They use almost three quarters of the electricity produced in the U.S.

The power utilities business is a capital intensive business. This is why utility companies’ debt is higher than other industries.

Exelon (EXC) split its generation business and its utility business. This means Exelon’s utility subsidiaries’ function is limited to the transmission and delivery of electricity.

Exelon Corporation (EXC) is one of the largest power companies in the U.S. In 2013, Exelon reported operating revenues of $24.9 billion.