Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Reduces Stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 41,960 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $11,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Operose Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 435.0% in the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. CNB Bank purchased a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $86,562.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 153,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,684,423. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total value of $308,064.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,409.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $86,562.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 153,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,684,423. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,748 shares of company stock valued at $498,658 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PEG traded up $0.14 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.85. The company had a trading volume of 198,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,812,114. The company has a fifty day moving average of $63.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.58. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $53.71 and a 12 month high of $67.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 22.81% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on PEG shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.15.

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.