Colonial Trust Advisors Sells 259 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Colonial Trust Advisors decreased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 259 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $60,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 87,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,403,000 after purchasing an additional 18,627 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 65.3% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 26,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 10,610 shares during the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group during the third quarter valued at $2,860,000. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI bought a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter valued at $2,565,000. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 108,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,127,000 after buying an additional 6,545 shares in the last quarter. 73.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PEG. StockNews.com cut Public Service Enterprise Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim reiterated 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Public Service Enterprise Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.35.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Down 0.8 %

PEG opened at $81.21 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $81.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.76. The company has a market capitalization of $40.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.52. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $64.03 and a 52 week high of $95.22.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.19%.

Insider Activity at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.88, for a total transaction of $114,208.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 221,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,372,009.60. This trade represents a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Public Service Enterprise Group

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.