Alliancebernstein L.P. Trims Holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG - Free Report) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 546,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,331 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.11% of Public Service Enterprise Group worth $46,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 87,621 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,403,000 after purchasing an additional 18,627 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 65.3% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 26,867 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,270,000 after buying an additional 10,610 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,860,000. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI purchased a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,565,000. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 108,025 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,127,000 after buying an additional 6,545 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.88, for a total value of $114,208.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 221,670 shares in the company, valued at $18,372,009.60. The trade was a 0.62 % 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. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:PEG traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $80.72. The stock had a trading volume of 806,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,708,932. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $82.01 and a 200 day moving average of $85.81. The company has a market capitalization of $40.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.52. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a one year low of $64.03 and a one year high of $95.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The business's revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. This is a positive change from Public Service Enterprise Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEG has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $82.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Public Service Enterprise Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.35.

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.