Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Reduces Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 290,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,969 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $9,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 85.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,834,000 after buying an additional 51,366 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 2.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,935,000 after acquiring an additional 96,491 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of PPL by 0.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the third quarter worth about $1,218,000. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,842,000 after purchasing an additional 124,275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:PPL opened at $35.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.16. The company has a market capitalization of $25.84 billion, a PE ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $25.93 and a 1-year high of $35.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.70.

PPL Profile

PPL Corporation, an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.6 million customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Kentucky Regulated, Pennsylvania Regulated, and Rhode Island Regulated. The company delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and Rhode Island; delivers natural gas to customers in Kentucky and Rhode Island; and generates electricity from power plants in Kentucky.