JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reduces Stock Position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 28.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,483,668 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,951,959 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 3.51% of Public Service Enterprise Group worth $1,559,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Old Port Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 23,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,099,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC increased its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 9,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA raised its stake in 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 worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New lifted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 5,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 29,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,619,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock opened at $85.40 on Friday. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $56.85 and a 52-week high of $95.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.01. 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 has a market cap of $42.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.62.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEG. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Friday, September 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $98.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Kim C. Hanemann sold 956 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $86,126.04. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 70,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,307,290.99. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 5,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.95, for a total value of $518,905.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 25,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,271,660.55. This trade represents a 18.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,798 shares of company stock valued at $1,595,921. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.