California Public Employees Retirement System Has $110.56 Million Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,406,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,087 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in PPL were worth $110,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. grew its holdings in PPL by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 78,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Choreo LLC increased its position in PPL by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 37,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its stake in PPL by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 11,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $36.16 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $34.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.33. The firm has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.93 and a one year high of $36.42.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. As a group, research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PPL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.27.

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.