Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) Increases Dividend to $0.63 Per Share

Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 11th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of 0.63 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. This is a positive change from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60.

Public Service Enterprise Group has increased its dividend by an average of 5.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Public Service Enterprise Group has a dividend payout ratio of 55.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Public Service Enterprise Group to earn $4.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.6%.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PEG opened at $82.65 on Wednesday. Public Service Enterprise Group has a one year low of $57.40 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 $41.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.66.

Insider Buying and Selling at Public Service Enterprise Group

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,245,040.92. This trade represents a 0.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Kim C. Hanemann sold 956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $86,126.04. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 70,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,307,290.99. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,712 shares of company stock valued at $317,644. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PEG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.83.

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.