Public Service Enterprise Group Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:PEG)

Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 2,953 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 481% compared to the average daily volume of 508 put options.

Insider Activity at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, COO Kim C. Hanemann sold 3,035 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total value of $248,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,102,830. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 2,083 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total transaction of $167,702.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 285,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,957,345.99. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,284 shares of company stock worth $746,145. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Public Service Enterprise Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $552,280,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 24.7% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,536,584 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,476,230,000 after buying an additional 3,469,886 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,498,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,420,155,000 after buying an additional 2,189,951 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 174.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,810,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $225,704,000 after buying an additional 1,788,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,708,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $217,483,000 after acquiring an additional 774,256 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PEG. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Thursday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $87.50 to $84.50 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.32.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Down 0.7%

PEG stock traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $81.07. 424,066 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,913,961. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.97. Public Service Enterprise Group has a 1-year low of $76.05 and a 1-year high of $91.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.90. The company has a market cap of $40.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.51.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 17.69% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. Public Service Enterprise Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.280-4.400 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.29%.

About Public Service Enterprise Group

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE: PEG) is a diversified energy company that operates primarily in New Jersey. Its core businesses include a regulated utility that delivers electric and natural gas service to residential, commercial and industrial customers, as well as generation and energy services operations that participate in wholesale power markets. The company’s activities encompass transmission and distribution, power generation operations, and related energy infrastructure services.

The regulated utility arm, Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), is responsible for owning and maintaining electric and gas networks, connecting customers, performing meter and billing services, and managing system reliability and storm response.