Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 640,949 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 151.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,064,829 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 640,949 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.21% of Public Service Enterprise Group worth $89,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,775,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,134,882,000 after purchasing an additional 492,517 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,195,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,027,725,000 after acquiring an additional 365,666 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter worth about $445,005,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $376,209,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 125.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,384,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $285,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882,667 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PEG opened at $77.83 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $82.34 and a 200 day moving average of $86.03. The firm has a market cap of $38.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.52. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a one year low of $64.03 and a one year high of $95.22.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is 71.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEG. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lowered Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total value of $114,511.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,791 shares in the company, valued at $10,536,332.10. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.