Whittier Trust Co. Trims Position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Whittier Trust Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEG. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter valued at $376,209,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 125.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,384,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $285,982,000 after buying an additional 1,882,667 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,401,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $481,825,000 after buying an additional 877,345 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 376.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 810,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,321,000 after buying an additional 640,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 103.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 950,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,313,000 after buying an additional 483,795 shares in the last quarter. 73.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Public Service Enterprise Group stock opened at $83.00 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $41.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.03 and a 1 year high of $95.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.10.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The company’s revenue 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 year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PEG. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $82.50 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Seven 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.65.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total transaction of $114,511.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,791 shares in the company, valued at $10,536,332.10. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate 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.