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

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,751 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $12,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the third quarter worth $35,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the third quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PEG opened at $83.23 on Wednesday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $84.91 and its 200-day moving average is $86.05. The company has a market capitalization of $41.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.01. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is an increase from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is 61.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 144,212 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,040.92. This represents a 0.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.