Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 30,214 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 74.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 70,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,214 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $4,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 13.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,673,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,509,864,000 after acquiring an additional 7,103,657 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 33,020,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,879,225,000 after acquiring an additional 726,613 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.2% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,253,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $638,876,000 after acquiring an additional 221,305 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,049,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $401,173,000 after purchasing an additional 87,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,156,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $350,395,000 after purchasing an additional 170,586 shares in the last quarter. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Performance

Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock opened at $65.03 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.58. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $53.71 and a 52 week high of $67.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 22.81% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is 46.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $86,562.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 153,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,684,423. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $86,562.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 153,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,684,423. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total transaction of $308,064.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,409.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,948 shares of company stock worth $510,300. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TheStreet raised Public Service Enterprise Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Guggenheim downgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up from $61.00) on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Public Service Enterprise Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.58.

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.