Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 6,920 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG - Free Report) by 62.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,250 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,920 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PEG. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,809 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,661 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,457 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 8,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,859,000. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

PEG stock traded up $1.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $84.31. 3,009,323 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,774,131. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $80.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.05. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $73.83 and a 12 month high of $95.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.48.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 11.80% and a net margin of 17.01%. Public Service Enterprise Group's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Public Service Enterprise Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,387 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.12, for a total value of $115,287.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 218,328 shares in the company, valued at $18,147,423.36. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim cut their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $99.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on Public Service Enterprise Group from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Public Service Enterprise Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $86.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.86.

Public Service Enterprise Group 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.