Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Buys 228 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Operose Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 435.0% in the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. CNB Bank acquired a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 73.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Public Service Enterprise Group

In related news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total transaction of $308,064.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,997,409.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total value of $308,064.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,122 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,409.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.55, for a total value of $95,561.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,500,172.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,322 shares of company stock worth $607,376. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

PEG stock traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $72.56. The company had a trading volume of 3,634,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,904,908. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $53.71 and a 1-year high of $72.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $66.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $36.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.56.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 11.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is presently 66.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.15.

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.