Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 3,020 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 91,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $7,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 149,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,668,000 after buying an additional 16,829 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 54.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 166,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,095,000 after purchasing an additional 5,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda grew its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 114,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,685,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 73.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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 that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.10, for a total transaction 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 represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.83.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:PEG opened at $79.74 on Friday. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $63.31 and a twelve month 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.94. The company has a market cap of $39.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. This is a boost from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.19%.

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.