Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 30,100 Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 30,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,841,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PEG. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,318,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,310,000 after purchasing an additional 83,174 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $798,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the first quarter worth approximately $214,000. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.37, for a total value of $91,192.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,111,270.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total value of $308,064.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,122 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,409.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 transaction of $91,192.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,111,270.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,948 shares of company stock valued at $510,300. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (up from $61.00) on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Public Service Enterprise Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.58.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PEG opened at $65.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $53.71 and a 1-year high of $67.51. The company has a market capitalization of $32.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.84.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.66 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.78%.

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.