Empower Advisory Group LLC Purchases 306 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 306 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PEG. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of 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. Barclays downgraded shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. 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 data from MarketBeat, Public Service Enterprise Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.83.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Performance

NYSE PEG opened at $85.77 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $85.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.85. The stock has a market cap of $42.73 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $59.29 and a fifty-two week high of $95.22. 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Public Service Enterprise Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

In other 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 transaction of $117,005.98. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 144,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,245,040.92. The trade was a 0.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is 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.