Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Acquires 63,000 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,069,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 63,000 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $90,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PEG. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter worth $56,000. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $82.50 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,791 shares in the company, valued at $10,536,332.10. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of PEG stock opened at $80.72 on Friday. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a one year low of $64.03 and a one year high of $95.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $40.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.05.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued 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 company 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.