Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 5,700 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 73.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,700 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEG. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,318,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,310,000 after buying an additional 83,174 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 1st quarter worth $798,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,654,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,055,836,000 after buying an additional 1,159,331 shares in the last quarter. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of PEG opened at $65.20 on Tuesday. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $53.71 and a 1 year high of $67.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $32.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $63.33 and a 200-day moving average of $61.75.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 22.81%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. This is a boost from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.37, for a total transaction of $91,192.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,111,270.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total transaction of $308,064.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,997,409.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.37, for a total value of $91,192.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,111,270.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,948 shares of company stock valued at $510,300 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim cut Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price target (up previously from $61.00) on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Public Service Enterprise Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.58.

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.