Patton Fund Management Inc. Invests $4.54 Million in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 53,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PEG. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.1% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 51,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,767,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 90,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,706,000 after buying an additional 13,559 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 22.1% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 27,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,031,000 after buying an additional 4,993 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 7.5% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 28,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,114,000 after acquiring an additional 2,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the second quarter worth approximately $66,000. Institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEG has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased 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. Barclays lowered Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Public Service Enterprise Group

In related news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 5,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,271,660.55. This represents a 18.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Kim C. Hanemann sold 956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 70,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,307,290.99. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,234 shares of company stock valued at $722,037. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of PEG stock opened at $81.71 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $57.24 and a 12-month high of $95.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $87.49 and its 200 day moving average is $85.07.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. Public Service Enterprise Group’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

Public Service Enterprise Group Profile

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.