Planning Directions Inc. Invests $204,000 in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Planning Directions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PEG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter worth $215,074,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,826,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,839,000 after acquiring an additional 30,469 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,389,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $146,132,000 after buying an additional 455,693 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,331,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,584,000 after buying an additional 259,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 73.9% in the 1st quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,572,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,978,000 after buying an additional 667,773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.55, for a total value of $95,561.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,500,172.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim upgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Mizuho upped their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.17.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock traded down $1.22 on Thursday, hitting $73.93. The company had a trading volume of 2,811,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,835,665. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.59. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $53.71 and a 1 year high of $77.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.15 and a 200-day moving average of $67.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 11.10%. The business’s revenue was down 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.48%.

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.