Merit Financial Group LLC Raises Holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 36.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,272 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $517,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 13.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,673,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,509,864,000 after buying an additional 7,103,657 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 118.1% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,364,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,544,000 after buying an additional 738,684 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 562.8% during the third 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,879,225,000 after acquiring an additional 726,613 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in 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 valued at $30,353,000 after purchasing an additional 496,581 shares during the last quarter. 73.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:PEG opened at $71.98 on Wednesday. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $53.71 and a 52-week high of $72.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.80. The company has a market capitalization of $35.85 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.56.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.01). Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 17.65%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $86,562.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 153,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,684,423. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $86,562.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 153,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,684,423. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,322 shares of company stock worth $607,376 over the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PEG. TheStreet raised shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Guggenheim cut 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 report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Public Service Enterprise Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.