PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC cut its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,287 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 499 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at about $570,789,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of PPL by 91.3% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 71.3% in the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,061,000 after buying an additional 1,792,200 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 50.3% in the first 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. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the first quarter valued at about $31,713,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $31.71 on Friday. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $23.36 and a 1-year high of $33.38. The stock has a market cap of $23.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.48. 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 (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, 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 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.56.

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.