Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Buys 4,020 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,020 shares during the quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $2,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $422,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,244,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 70,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,227,000 after acquiring an additional 15,505 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 96,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,575,000 after acquiring an additional 25,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 72.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 20,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,532,000 after buying an additional 8,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Public Service Enterprise Group

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.20, for a total transaction of $124,295.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 147,514 shares in the company, valued at $13,305,762.80. This represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Kim C. Hanemann sold 956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $86,126.04. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,361 shares of company stock valued at $2,356,562. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PEG shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lowered their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $98.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.08.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Performance

Public Service Enterprise Group stock opened at $92.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $45.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $56.85 and a fifty-two week high of $95.22. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.44.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

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.