Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New $2.98 Million Investment in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 35,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,984,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,829,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,051,744,000 after acquiring an additional 49,285 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,401,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $481,825,000 after acquiring an additional 877,345 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $376,209,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 125.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,384,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $285,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882,667 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,030,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,012,000 after purchasing an additional 78,452 shares during the period. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PEG shares. 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 for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.65.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total value of $114,511.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,791 shares in the company, valued at $10,536,332.10. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE PEG opened at $83.32 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.01. The stock has a market cap of $41.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $63.68 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. This is a positive change from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.19%.

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.