Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Sells 5,135 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp cut its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 192,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,135 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $16,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PEG. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Public Service Enterprise Group during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group stock opened at $77.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $38.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $82.34 and a 200 day moving average of $86.03. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $64.03 and a 52 week high of $95.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS 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 period last year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is an increase from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is 71.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PEG. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of 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. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.65.

Insider Transactions 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 value of $114,208.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 221,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,372,009.60. This represents a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.