Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 8,751 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,751 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $12,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEG. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 125.3% during 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 last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,401,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $481,825,000 after purchasing an additional 877,345 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 376.3% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 810,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,321,000 after purchasing an additional 640,485 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 103.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 950,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,313,000 after purchasing an additional 483,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 179.5% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 706,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,061,000 after purchasing an additional 453,985 shares during the last quarter. 73.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total transaction of $114,511.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,536,332.10. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

NYSE PEG opened at $83.23 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.05. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $59.29 and a 52-week high of $95.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $41.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last posted its 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. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. Public Service Enterprise Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. This is an increase from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is 61.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays cut Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Public Service Enterprise Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.83.

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.