Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Acquires New Holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $89,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PEG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $5,134,882,000 after purchasing an additional 492,517 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,829,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,051,744,000 after purchasing an additional 49,285 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 19.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,401,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $481,825,000 after buying an additional 877,345 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at $376,209,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,882,667 shares during the period. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PEG opened at $81.48 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $64.03 and a fifty-two week high of $95.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.01. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total value of $114,511.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,536,332.10. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PEG. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $82.50 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $98.00 price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Public Service Enterprise Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.65.

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.