Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 5,331 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 546,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,331 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.11% of Public Service Enterprise Group worth $46,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PEG. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 87,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,403,000 after acquiring an additional 18,627 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 65.3% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 26,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 10,610 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 3rd quarter worth $2,860,000. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI acquired a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,565,000. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 108,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,127,000 after buying an additional 6,545 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

NYSE:PEG opened at $77.83 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $82.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.02. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.03 and a 1-year high of $95.22. The firm has a market cap of $38.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.01. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost 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%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley upped 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 research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays downgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised Public Service Enterprise Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.65.

Insider Activity at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.88, for a total transaction of $114,208.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 221,670 shares in the company, valued at $18,372,009.60. This trade represents a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.