Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 3,554 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,554 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $2,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $98.00 price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total value of $114,511.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,536,332.10. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of PEG opened at $79.10 on Friday. 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 $84.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.99. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $63.31 and a 1-year high of $95.22. The company has a market cap of $39.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast 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 disclosed 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. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. This is a boost from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is 71.19%.

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.