Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) Shares Sold by Watershed Asset Management L.L.C.

Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. lessened its position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 557 shares during the period. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PEG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,673,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,509,864,000 after acquiring an additional 7,103,657 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 118.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,364,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,544,000 after acquiring an additional 738,684 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 562.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 869,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,504,000 after acquiring an additional 738,619 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 33,020,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,879,225,000 after acquiring an additional 726,613 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 1,350.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 533,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,353,000 after acquiring an additional 496,581 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE PEG traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $67.23. 3,338,990 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,844,315. The company has a market capitalization of $33.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.58. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $53.71 and a 52-week high of $67.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.14.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 22.81% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Public Service Enterprise Group’s revenue was down 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.66 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 Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is 46.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the business’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 directly owns 31,122 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,409.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the business’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 directly owns 31,122 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,409.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $86,562.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 153,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,684,423. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,948 shares of company stock worth $511,814 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on PEG. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Guggenheim cut shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. TheStreet upgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up previously from $61.00) on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.15.

Public Service Enterprise Group Company 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.