Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 492,517 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,775,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 492,517 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.20% of Public Service Enterprise Group worth $5,134,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 661,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,857,000 after acquiring an additional 105,401 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 7,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $328,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,052,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $528,000. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PEG opened at $83.00 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $83.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.10. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $64.03 and a 52 week high of $95.22.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. This is a positive change from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PEG shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $98.00 target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total value of $114,511.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,536,332.10. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.