Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Takes $248,000 Position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEG. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter worth $241,000. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 10,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 10,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $925,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 65,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,538,000 after buying an additional 4,679 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on PEG. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.83.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE:PEG opened at $81.59 on Friday. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a one year low of $63.31 and a one year high of $95.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $40.68 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.95.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 71.19%.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total value of $114,511.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,536,332.10. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is 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.