Mizuho Securities USA LLC Purchases 14,917 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 46.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,917 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $3,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEG. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter worth $56,000. 73.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,536,332.10. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEG has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays cut shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $98.00 price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.65.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

PEG stock opened at $83.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $41.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. 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 Incorporated has a 12-month low of $64.03 and a 12-month high of $95.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.10.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. This is a positive change from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.19%.

About Public Service Enterprise Group

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.