Community Bank N.A. Reduces Stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Community Bank N.A. lowered its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 65,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,535 shares during the quarter. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $5,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 87,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,403,000 after purchasing an additional 18,627 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,244,000. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 65.3% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 26,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 10,610 shares during the period. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,860,000. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,565,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PEG shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Public Service Enterprise Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.65.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Public Service Enterprise Group stock opened at $83.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.06. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $64.03 and a 12 month high of $95.22. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.01. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. Public Service Enterprise Group’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. This is a positive change from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is presently 71.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 $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 is available at this link. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.