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What Awaits Public Service Enterprise (PEG) in Q1 Earnings?

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Public Service Enterprise (PEG - Free Report) is scheduled to release first-quarter 2020 results on May 4, before the opening bell. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 3.23%.

Moreover, the company’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the same once, the average positive surprise being 2.26%.

Let’s discuss the factors that are likely to have shaped up the announcement.

Factors to Consider

During the January-March 2020 quarter, most of Public Service Enterprise’s service territory areas experienced warmer-than-normal temperature. This is likely to have resulted in lower household expenses for electricity, which in turn may have had an unfavorable impact on the company’s first-quarter revenues.

On a brighter note, during its fourth-quarter earnings call, Public Service Enterprise announced that it had completed 1,800-megawatt combined-cycle construction program with the placement into service of Bridgeport Harbor 5. The company made significant progress in replacing reactor vessel bolts at Salem 1. This, along with solid ZEC revenues from its nuclear plants, must have boosted its first-quarter performance.

Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated Price and EPS Surprise

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter revenues is pegged at $3.24 billion, which indicates a rise of 8.6% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

During the first quarter, severe storms affected parts of areas served by this utility provider. This may have pushed up costs for Public Service Enterprise to tackle the outages, thereby weighing on its quarterly bottom line.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.03 per share, which suggests 4.6% decline from the year-ago quarter reported figure.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Public Service Enterprise this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat.  And that is not the case here.

Earnings ESP: The company’s Earnings ESP is 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Public Service Enterprise carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stocks to Consider

Here are a few players from the Utilities sector that have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in the to-be-reported quarter.

New Jersey Resources (NJR - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +3.86% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company will announce fiscal second-quarter 2020 earnings on May 8.

Consolidated Edison (ED - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.69% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company will announce first-quarter 2020 earnings on May 7.

Spire Inc. (SR - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.17% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company will announce fiscal second-quarter 2020 earnings on May 8.

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