Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.60 (NYSE:PEG)

Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.60 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th.

Public Service Enterprise Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Public Service Enterprise Group has a dividend payout ratio of 56.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Public Service Enterprise Group to earn $3.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.4%.

Public Service Enterprise Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of PEG opened at $65.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $32.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Public Service Enterprise Group has a 1 year low of $53.71 and a 1 year high of $67.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.82.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. Public Service Enterprise Group had a net margin of 22.81% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Public Service Enterprise Group’s quarterly revenue was down 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Public Service Enterprise Group will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $86,562.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 153,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,684,423. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Public Service Enterprise Group news, CEO Ralph A. Larossa sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $86,562.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 153,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,684,423. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard T. Thigpen sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.18, for a total transaction of $308,064.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,122 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,409.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,948 shares of company stock valued at $510,300. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Public Service Enterprise Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PEG. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Public Service Enterprise Group by 7.5% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,318,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,310,000 after purchasing an additional 83,174 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $798,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Public Service Enterprise Group by 1.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Public Service Enterprise Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $214,000. 73.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on PEG. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Public Service Enterprise Group from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Public Service Enterprise Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Public Service Enterprise Group from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim cut Public Service Enterprise Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.58.

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.