Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 139 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $2,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Old Port Advisors raised its position in 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 valued at $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $842,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New lifted its position 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 buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $2,619,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.34% of the company’s stock.

Public Service Enterprise Group Stock Performance

Shares of PEG stock opened at $81.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.80 and a 200 day moving average of $84.99. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $57.24 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 Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Public Service Enterprise Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

Insider Transactions at Public Service Enterprise Group

In related news, COO Kim C. Hanemann sold 956 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $86,126.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 70,011 shares in the company, valued at $6,307,290.99. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.91, for a total transaction of $117,005.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 144,212 shares in the company, valued at $12,245,040.92. The trade was a 0.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,234 shares of company stock valued at $722,037. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEG has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays cut shares of 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. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $73.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Public Service Enterprise Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.83.

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.