Park Place Capital Corp Cuts Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Park Place Capital Corp cut its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 14.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,485 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,908 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in PPL were worth $316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PPL. Mariner LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 65,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,532,000 after purchasing an additional 4,963 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of PPL by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 324,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 50,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 10,988 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter worth $606,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of PPL by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 50,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 5,314 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $27.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.31. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $29.89.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. Research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PPL. Barclays upped their price target on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Argus raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of 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 objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.36.

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.