New England Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

New England Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG - Free Report) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,553 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,565 shares during the quarter. Public Service Enterprise Group accounts for 1.1% of New England Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. New England Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $6,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,775,030 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,134,882,000 after acquiring an additional 492,517 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,195,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,027,725,000 after acquiring an additional 365,666 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,525,305 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $551,323,000 after purchasing an additional 604,978 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,807,124 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $490,644,000 after purchasing an additional 335,135 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter valued at $445,005,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on PEG shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $82.50 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $88.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.26, for a total transaction of $109,220.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 221,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,523,831.18. This represents a 0.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:PEG traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $79.33. 3,990,107 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,735,432. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $71.89 and a 52 week high of $95.22. The firm's 50 day moving average is $80.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

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 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.43. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Public Service Enterprise Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.