CoreFirst Bank & Trust Purchases Shares of 864 Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 4,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 5,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA raised its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 9,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 4,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 35,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,990,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $82.50 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $98.00 price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.65.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total value of $117,005.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 144,212 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,040.92. This trade represents a 0.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Down 2.2 %

PEG opened at $81.51 on Wednesday. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $64.03 and a 52 week high of $95.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $40.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. This is an increase from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is presently 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.