Arvest Investments Inc. Lowers Holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Arvest Investments Inc. lessened its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,504 shares during the quarter. Arvest Investments Inc.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $1,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 4,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 5,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA raised its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 9,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 4,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 35,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,990,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of PEG opened at $83.21 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.02. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $63.54 and a 1 year high of $95.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, 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 (NYSE:PEG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total value of $114,511.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,791 shares in the company, valued at $10,536,332.10. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PEG. Bank of America decreased their target price on 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. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $98.00 target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised Public Service Enterprise Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $82.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.27.

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.