PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 44.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 42,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 34,545 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its position in shares of PPL by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 2,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 3.4% during the second quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 11,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. raised its position in shares of PPL by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 77,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,134,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Philadelphia Trust Co. raised its position in shares of PPL by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Philadelphia Trust Co. now owns 16,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in PPL by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on PPL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.18.

PPL Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $31.91 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $23.54 billion, a PE ratio of 30.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average is $29.54 and its 200-day moving average is $28.31. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $32.12.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 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 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

About PPL

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.