Arvest Investments Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Arvest Investments Inc. reduced its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,504 shares during the quarter. Arvest Investments Inc.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $1,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 87,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,403,000 after acquiring an additional 18,627 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the third quarter worth approximately $8,244,000. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 65.3% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 26,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,270,000 after acquiring an additional 10,610 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the third quarter worth approximately $2,860,000. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,565,000. 73.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,040.92. The trade was a 0.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PEG. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $82.50 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $98.00 target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Performance

NYSE:PEG opened at $83.21 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $41.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.02. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $63.54 and a twelve 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.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

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