Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. has reduced its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG) by 50.2%, selling 31,188 shares and retaining 31,001 shares valued at approximately $2.55 million.
• CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,387 shares of company stock for nearly $115,300, resulting in a 0.63% decrease in his ownership.
• Equities analysts have mixed ratings for PEG, with one sell rating, five holds, and six buy ratings, alongside a consensus target price of $90.50.

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG - Free Report) by 50.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 31,188 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $2,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PEG. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 476.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 919,218 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $75,652,000 after buying an additional 759,873 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 151.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,064,829 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $89,967,000 after buying an additional 640,949 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,525,305 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $551,323,000 after buying an additional 604,978 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 8,465.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 586,881 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,300,000 after purchasing an additional 580,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,997,028 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $337,709,000 after purchasing an additional 542,671 shares in the last quarter. 73.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on PEG. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,387 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.12, for a total value of $115,287.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 218,328 shares in the company, valued at $18,147,423.36. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Performance

NYSE PEG traded down $0.82 during trading on Friday, reaching $88.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,460,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,894,682. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $74.67 and a twelve month high of $95.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The business's fifty day moving average price is $82.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.23. The firm has a market cap of $44.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.48.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 17.01% and a return on equity of 11.80%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. Public Service Enterprise Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.85%.

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.