UPDATE: BMO Capital Markets Reiterates Market Perform Rating, Raises PT on Public Service Enterprise Group on Operating EPS

In a report published Friday, BMO Capital Markets reiterated its Market Perform rating on Public Service Enterprise Group

, and slightly raised its price target from $32.00 to $33.00. BMO Capital Markets noted, “PEG reported 4Q12/FY2012 operating EPS of $0.41/$2.44, modestly above our estimates of $0.35/$2.40 and consensus of $0.38/$2.41. These results were sharply lower than 4Q11/FY2011 EPS of $0.47/$2.74. The lower results generally reflect softer power prices, higher O&M and taxes. PEG's regulated utility operations continues to provide support for consolidated EPS, but in our opinion, likely not enough to fully offset the impact of declining earnings from PSEG Power (competitive generation subsidiary). The recently announced $3.9 billion incremental utility capex should further skew the earnings mix in favor of its regulated business.” Public Service Enterprise Group closed on Thursday at $31.74.