Legacy Private Trust Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Legacy Private Trust Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 34,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 648 shares during the quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $2,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Innova Wealth Partners purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter worth about $304,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 8,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic grew its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 19,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,622,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Finally, Centre Asset Management LLC increased its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PEG shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays decreased their target price 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. Finally, Scotiabank raised 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.17.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Down 0.2 %

PEG stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $85.27. 2,128,177 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,929,308. The company has a market capitalization of $42.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.65. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $56.85 and a twelve month high of $95.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 5,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.95, for a total value of $518,905.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,271,660.55. This represents a 18.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 144,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,040.92. This represents a 0.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,234 shares of company stock worth $722,037. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Company 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.