Baird Financial Group Inc. Buys 5,000 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $2,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 612,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,716,000 after purchasing an additional 259,420 shares during the last quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 3,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter worth $532,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 872,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,724,000 after purchasing an additional 103,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alta Fundamental Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Alta Fundamental Advisers LLC now owns 324,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,377,000 after purchasing an additional 121,632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PEG opened at $78.92 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $80.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.46. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $71.89 and a 1-year high of $95.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.43. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.81.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.26, for a total transaction of $109,220.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 221,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,523,831.18. The trade was a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.