CENTRAL TRUST Co Purchases 755 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 25.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEG. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 325.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 67.5% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 5,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.95, for a total value of $518,905.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,271,660.55. This represents a 18.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,791 shares in the company, valued at $10,536,332.10. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,612 shares of company stock valued at $836,549 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.83.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock opened at $83.43 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.31. The company has a market cap of $41.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $57.24 and a 12-month high of $95.22.

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

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

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.