PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 830 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 513,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 830 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned 0.07% of PPL worth $16,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 6.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 882,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,192,000 after purchasing an additional 52,547 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. acquired a new position in PPL during the 3rd quarter worth about $212,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 23,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 23.9% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 30,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 5,800 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of PPL by 30.5% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 67,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,229,000 after acquiring an additional 15,761 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.70.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $25.93 and a 1-year high of $35.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,779 shares of company stock worth $386,515. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.