Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Takes $2.47 Million Position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 29,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,472,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 4,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 5,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 9,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 4,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 35,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,990,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.83.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock opened at $79.10 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $39.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $63.31 and a 12-month high of $95.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.07.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is a positive change from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is presently 71.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total transaction of $117,005.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 144,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,245,040.92. The trade was a 0.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.