Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 672 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total value of $114,511.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,536,332.10. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PEG shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Barclays cut Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.65.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Down 4.6 %

PEG opened at $77.83 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $82.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $64.03 and a fifty-two week high of $95.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.63 dividend. This is a positive change from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is currently 71.19%.

Public Service Enterprise Group Company 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.