Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 18,344 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 602,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,344 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Public Service Enterprise Group worth $53,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $276,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.1% in the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 53,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,958,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares in the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,107,000. Breakwater Capital Group lifted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 5,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 65.4% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 2,726 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 5,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.95, for a total transaction of $518,905.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,271,660.55. This represents a 18.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tamara Louise Linde sold 9,564 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.61, for a total value of $866,594.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 48,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,385,252.17. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,798 shares of company stock worth $1,595,921. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.17.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock opened at $85.06 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $88.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.75. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $56.85 and a 1 year high of $95.22. The stock has a market cap of $42.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.62. 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 Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Public Service Enterprise Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.97%.

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.