Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG - Free Report) by 44.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 159,345 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 49,105 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $13,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEG. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $71,298,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 19.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,401,024 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $481,825,000 after buying an additional 877,345 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 79.5% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,502,136 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $134,006,000 after buying an additional 665,105 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,869,113 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $255,954,000 after acquiring an additional 663,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 376.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 640,485 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

In related news, COO Kim C. Hanemann sold 956 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $86,126.04. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 70,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,307,290.99. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total value of $117,005.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 144,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,245,040.92. This trade represents a 0.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,234 shares of company stock valued at $722,037 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on PEG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.17.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Down 0.3 %

PEG stock traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $88.20. The stock had a trading volume of 2,714,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,757,952. 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 firm has a market cap of $43.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $87.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.36. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $56.85 and a 52-week high of $95.22.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. Public Service Enterprise Group's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Public Service Enterprise Group's payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

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.