Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Trims Stock Position in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC cut its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,447 shares during the quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Old Port Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 23,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 9,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $827,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA lifted its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 9,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New boosted its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 5,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its position in Public Service Enterprise Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 29,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,619,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 73.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PEG. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of 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 raised their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $98.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.69.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Public Service Enterprise Group stock opened at $94.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.68. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $56.85 and a 1 year high of $95.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.31 and its 200-day moving average is $81.33. The company has a market cap of $46.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.61.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $111,190.82. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 148,892 shares in the company, valued at $12,014,095.48. This trade represents a 0.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Kim C. Hanemann sold 956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $86,126.04. Following the transaction, 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 quarter, insiders sold 28,739 shares of company stock valued at $2,467,753. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.