Bailard Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Bailard Inc. grew its position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $1,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEG. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. 73.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on PEG. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $98.00 price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.83.

Insider Activity at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total transaction of $114,511.80. Following the completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:PEG opened at $81.79 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $40.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $61.99 and a 1 year high of $95.22. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $84.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.08.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This is a positive change from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.19%.

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.