PPL Corporation $PPL Stock Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 940,581 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $32,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. XML Financial LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 7,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its position in PPL by 5.1% in the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC grew its position in PPL by 1.7% in the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 25,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $828,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its position in PPL by 0.9% in the first quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 49,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the period. Finally, Syon Capital LLC grew its position in PPL by 5.3% in the second quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 8,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $35.38 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.75. PPL Corporation has a one year low of $31.56 and a one year high of $40.10. The firm has a market cap of $26.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.55.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. PPL had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.920-1.960 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2850 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 65.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho set a $38.00 target price on PPL in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of PPL in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. HSBC assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.12.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, EVP Wendy Stark sold 5,406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.11, for a total transaction of $189,804.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 99,220 shares in the company, valued at $3,483,614.20. This trade represents a 5.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Company Profile

PPL Corporation is an energy company that owns regulated electric and natural gas utilities. Its businesses generate, transmit and distribute electricity and deliver natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. PPL serves customers in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Rhode Island through subsidiaries including PPL Electric Utilities, Louisville Gas and Electric Company, Kentucky Utilities and Rhode Island Energy. Its utility operations maintain the infrastructure used to provide energy and support related customer services.