Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Decreases Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 290,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,969 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $9,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in shares of PPL by 1,092.2% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 84.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Newton One Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 846 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $47,675.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Up 0.5 %

PPL stock opened at $35.01 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.93 and a fifty-two week high of $35.91. The stock has a market cap of $25.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.16.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

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.