Swedbank AB Boosts Position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Swedbank AB raised its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 451,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,259 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $38,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 325.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.83.

Insider Activity at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, COO Kim C. Hanemann sold 956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $86,126.04. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 70,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,290.99. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 5,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.95, for a total value of $518,905.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,829 shares in the company, valued at $2,271,660.55. This represents a 18.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,234 shares of company stock worth $722,037 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE:PEG opened at $83.82 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $87.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.04. The company has a market cap of $41.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $57.24 and a twelve month high of $95.22. 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 (NYSE:PEG) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

Public Service Enterprise Group Company 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.