Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Sells 4,598 Shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC reduced its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG - Free Report) by 46.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,296 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,598 shares during the quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Public Service Enterprise Group were worth $447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 87,621 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,403,000 after purchasing an additional 18,627 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,244,000. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 65.3% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 26,867 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,270,000 after buying an additional 10,610 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,860,000. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI purchased a new position in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,565,000. 73.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PEG. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on 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. StockNews.com raised Public Service Enterprise Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Public Service Enterprise Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $82.50 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.27.

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Public Service Enterprise Group Price Performance

NYSE:PEG traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $83.21. The stock had a trading volume of 3,738,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,546,310. 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 52 week low of $63.54 and a 52 week high of $95.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $83.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Public Service Enterprise Group had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 19.48%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Public Service Enterprise Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. This is an increase from Public Service Enterprise Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Public Service Enterprise Group's payout ratio is currently 71.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,378 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,245,040.92. The trade was a 0.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

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.