MKT Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

by · The Cerbat Gem

MKT Advisors LLC lessened its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL – Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 467 shares during the period. MKT Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,981,760,000 after buying an additional 750,033 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in PPL by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,195,484,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070,499 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in PPL by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $891,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $572,300,000 after purchasing an additional 500,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $411,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371,000 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PPL shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim lifted their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.90.

Get Our Latest Report on PPL

PPL Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:PPL opened at $34.03 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.17. The stock has a market cap of $25.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $27.24 and a 1 year high of $36.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PPL (NYSE:PPL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.74%.

PPL Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Featured Articles