PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service trimmed its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,097,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 21,563 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.15% of PPL worth $36,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in PPL by 52.1% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 154,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,197,000 after purchasing an additional 52,870 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in PPL during the first quarter worth approximately $49,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in PPL by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 156,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,905 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in PPL in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 83.1% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 18,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 8,547 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.50.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $32.56 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $24.93 and a twelve month high of $33.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.07, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.96%.

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.