Apella Capital LLC Purchases 291 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Apella Capital LLC grew its position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $446,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PEG. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group during the second quarter valued at $422,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,244,000. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group during the third quarter worth approximately $2,860,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 36.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 96,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,575,000 after purchasing an additional 25,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,965,000. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PEG. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $98.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Public Service Enterprise Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.17.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE PEG opened at $86.28 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.21. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $56.85 and a 12 month high of $95.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.65.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 5,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.95, for a total value 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. The trade was a 18.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total transaction of $117,005.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,234 shares of company stock valued at $722,037. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.