Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 283,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,312 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $17,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEG. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. Choreo LLC boosted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 262.1% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 14,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 10,616 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 7,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $334,000. Finally, Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. 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 news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $9,684,423. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $86,562.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 153,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,684,423. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total transaction of $308,064.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,409.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,948 shares of company stock valued at $511,814 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of PEG stock opened at $69.81 on Thursday. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $53.71 and a twelve month high of $70.46. The company has a market capitalization of $34.81 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.48.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.01). Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 11.19%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is 66.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PEG shares. Evercore ISI lifted 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 report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Guggenheim downgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.15.

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.