Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Acquires 92,854 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 1,846.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,854 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $5,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 306,488 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,740,000 after buying an additional 18,195 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 1,994 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 77,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,749,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 532,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,563,000 after purchasing an additional 5,858 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total transaction of $308,064.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,409.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total value of $308,064.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,409.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.37, for a total value of $91,192.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,111,270.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,322 shares of company stock valued at $607,376 over the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PEG opened at $70.45 on Friday. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $53.71 and a 12-month high of $70.54. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $65.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.60. The firm has a market cap of $35.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.01). Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 17.65%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PEG. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up from $61.00) on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.15.

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.