Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) Shares Sold by Achmea Investment Management B.V.

Achmea Investment Management B.V. lessened its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 41.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,189 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $376,209,000. 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 valued at $285,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882,667 shares in 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 valued at $481,825,000 after purchasing an additional 877,345 shares in 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 valued at $72,321,000 after purchasing an additional 640,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 valued at $80,313,000 after purchasing an additional 483,795 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 2.3 %

PEG opened at $81.59 on Friday. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a one year low of $63.31 and a one year high of $95.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $83.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.98. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.01. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. This is a boost from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is 71.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total transaction of $114,511.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,791 shares in the company, valued at $10,536,332.10. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.83.

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.