Pacer Advisors Inc. Lowers Holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 26.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 62,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 21,855 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $5,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the third quarter worth approximately $59,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 325.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 67.5% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PEG shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.83.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock opened at $81.87 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.07. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $57.24 and a 12-month high of $95.22. The firm has a market cap of $40.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Public Service Enterprise Group’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total transaction of $117,005.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 144,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,245,040.92. This trade represents a 0.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Kim C. Hanemann sold 956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $86,126.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 70,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,307,290.99. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,234 shares of company stock valued at $722,037 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.