Zacks Investment Management Sells 66,282 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Zacks Investment Management lessened its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 685,373 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 66,282 shares during the quarter. Zacks Investment Management owned about 0.14% of Public Service Enterprise Group worth $57,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,775,030 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,134,882,000 after acquiring an additional 492,517 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 365,666 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 10.2% in the fourth 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter valued at $445,005,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $376,209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $98.00 target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $82.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.88, for a total value of $114,208.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 221,670 shares in the company, valued at $18,372,009.60. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Down 3.8 %

PEG traded down $3.15 during trading on Monday, reaching $80.21. 500,497 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,715,213. 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 cap of $39.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.52. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $65.36 and a fifty-two week high of $95.22. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $81.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.47.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG - Get Free Report) last announced 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is an increase from Public Service Enterprise Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.19%.

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.