Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) Shares Purchased by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,769 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEG. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 7.5% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 6.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,318,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,310,000 after purchasing an additional 83,174 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the first quarter worth $798,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the first quarter worth $214,000. 72.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Public Service Enterprise Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 4,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $259,686.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 112,076 shares in the company, valued at $7,060,788. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,522 shares of company stock worth $283,500. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Performance

Shares of PEG opened at $64.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.90 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $53.71 and a 52-week high of $65.46.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.10. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 23.83% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.42 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is 40.64%.

Public Service Enterprise Group Profile

Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company primarily in Mid-Atlantic United States. The company operates through PSE&G and PSEG Power. The PSE&G segment transmits electricity; distributes electricity and gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers, as well as invests in solar generation projects, and energy efficiency and related programs; and offers appliance services and repairs.