KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires Shares of 296,509 Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 296,509 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $25,052,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned 0.06% of Public Service Enterprise Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at $376,209,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 1,882,667 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 877,345 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 640,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 103.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 950,556 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $80,313,000 after acquiring an additional 483,795 shares in the last quarter. 73.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Down 1.0 %

PEG stock traded down $0.82 on Thursday, hitting $80.72. 2,519,299 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,530,760. 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 market capitalization of $40.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $64.03 and a twelve month high of $95.22. The business's fifty day moving average is $83.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.09.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.01. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Public Service Enterprise Group

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total transaction of $117,005.98. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 144,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,040.92. The trade was a 0.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PEG. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays downgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $82.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.65.

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.