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PSEG Stock Thrives on Smart Investments and Clean Energy Focus

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Key Takeaways

  • PEG plans $3.8B in 2025 investments and $21 to $24B through 2029 to expand clean energy and infrastructure.
  • PEG aims for net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, accelerating its original target by 20 years.
  • PEG's clean energy push includes investments in electrification, energy efficiency and load growth projects.

Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc. (PEG - Free Report) or PSEG’s priority for renewable expansion is projected to increase its presence in the clean energy industry. To better serve its customers, the company invests in its infrastructure on a regular basis, increasing the reliability of its transmission and distribution system.

However, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company is exposed to risks like remediation costs for each manufactured gas plant (MGP) site.

Positive Drivers for PEG

PSEG aims to invest about $3.8 billion in 2025 for its infrastructure upgrades, energy efficiency, electrification projects and load growth. It plans to invest $21-24 billion in capital between 2025 and 2029. These significant expenditures aim to expand the company's clean energy programs, which will increase infrastructure resilience and consumer reliability. Its solid capital investment strategy is expected to result in compounded annual rate-based growth of 6-7.5% over the same period.

In the clean energy industry, the company is making large investments in utility-owned solar photovoltaic (PV) grid-connected systems. As of Dec. 31, 2024, the PSE&G division had 158 megawatts of direct current installed PV solar capacity in New Jersey.

PSEG has also taken initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint to benefit from the growing clean energy industry. With this goal in mind, the company accelerated and extended its net-zero target by 20 years in June 2021, seeking to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. The company's clean energy effort also involves the upgrade of its gas distribution infrastructure as part of the Gas System Modernization Program, which is intended to drastically minimize gas leaks in the distribution system.

Factors That May Hinder PEG Stock

PSEG’s segment, PSE&G, has been collaborating with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to assess and remediate environmental conditions at its former MGP sites. As of March 31, 2025, 38 sites require remedial action, and PSE&G estimates costs of $199-$224 million to complete all sites. Such an expenditure might hurt PSEG’s operating results.

As of March 31, 2025, the company owed $20.40 billion in long-term debt. Its cash balance of $0.89 billion at the end of the first quarter fell short of its long-term debt levels and the current debt value of $3 billion. This shows that PSEG has a weak solvency position.

PEG Stock Price Movement

In the past three months, PEG shares have risen 1.5% compared with the industry’s growth of 3.3%.

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Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the same industry are Evergy, Inc. (EVRG - Free Report) , CenterPoint Energy (CNP - Free Report) and NiSource Inc. (NI - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

EVRG’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 5.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2025 earnings per share stands at $4.03, which indicates a year-over-year rally of 5.8%.

CNP’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2025 earnings per share stands at $1.75, suggesting a year-over-year rise of 8%.

NiSource’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2025 earnings per share stands at $1.88, which calls for a year-over-year jump of 7.4%.

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