Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Decreases Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,774 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter worth about $570,789,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $108,799,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 437.5% during the 4th quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,530,000 after purchasing an additional 3,980,626 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in PPL by 91.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,977,000 after buying an additional 2,778,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 50.3% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,433,000 after buying an additional 1,572,771 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $32.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.91. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $22.35 and a 12 month high of $33.38. The company has a market cap of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.70 and its 200-day moving average is $29.29.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.55.

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.