Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 4,452,702 Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,452,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $376,209,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.89% of Public Service Enterprise Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,152,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter valued at $12,251,000. SPC Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $946,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 38,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,239,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total transaction of $114,511.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,536,332.10. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PEG shares. Scotiabank upped 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 research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised Public Service Enterprise Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $98.00 price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays lowered Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.83.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of PEG stock opened at $78.11 on Friday. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $63.31 and a fifty-two week high of $95.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $84.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is a boost from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.