PGGM Investments Raises Stock Holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

PGGM Investments increased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG - Free Report) by 433.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,699 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 26,568 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments' holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $2,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PEG. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upped their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised Public Service Enterprise Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $98.00 price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.83.

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Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Performance

Public Service Enterprise Group stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.16. 3,280,575 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,758,111. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $63.54 and a fifty-two week high of $95.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.03. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. Public Service Enterprise Group's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. This is an increase from Public Service Enterprise Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was 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. This represents a 0.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.