Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Cuts Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 476 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 120.4% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 17,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 9,471 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 107.2% during the fourth quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 590,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,996,000 after purchasing an additional 305,427 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in shares of PPL by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 8,952,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $242,616,000 after purchasing an additional 340,686 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth about $2,153,000. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 108,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,936,000 after purchasing an additional 8,238 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $28.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.82. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $29.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. PPL’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PPL. Mizuho increased their target price on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America increased their price target on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.45.

PPL Company 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.