Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 492,517 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,775,030 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 492,517 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.20% of Public Service Enterprise Group worth $5,134,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PEG. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors own 73.34% of the company's stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PEG traded down $0.30 on Thursday, reaching $81.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 602,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,526,625. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.09. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.03 and a 52-week high of $95.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $40.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60.

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Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. This is a positive change from Public Service Enterprise Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group's payout ratio is presently 71.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on PEG. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $98.00 price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Public Service Enterprise Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.65.

Insider Activity at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total value of $117,005.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 144,212 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,040.92. This trade represents a 0.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.