20,000 Shares in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 20,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,690,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 32,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,728,000 after acquiring an additional 15,885 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 9,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $822,000 after acquiring an additional 3,707 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,452,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,733,000 after acquiring an additional 165,375 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 92.6% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter worth about $272,000. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PEG opened at $77.25 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $80.86 and a 200 day moving average of $84.29. The stock has a market cap of $38.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $71.89 and a 12 month high of $95.22. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.43. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.85%.

Insider Activity at Public Service Enterprise Group

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 221,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,523,831.18. The trade was a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on PEG. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.81.

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.