Vision Financial Markets LLC Acquires Shares of 1,000 Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $84,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake 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 worth $285,982,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882,667 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,401,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $481,825,000 after acquiring an additional 877,345 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 376.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 810,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,321,000 after acquiring an additional 640,485 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 103.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 950,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,313,000 after acquiring an additional 483,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 179.5% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 706,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,061,000 after acquiring an additional 453,985 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Performance

NYSE PEG opened at $81.68 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $40.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.06. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $63.31 and a 1-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 company had revenue of $2.47 billion during 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%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This is an increase from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is currently 71.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEG. Scotiabank raised their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays downgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised Public Service Enterprise Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,791 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,536,332.10. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

About Public Service Enterprise Group

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.