Russell Investments Group Ltd. Cuts Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,453,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 30,051 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.20% of PPL worth $38,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of PPL by 1.6% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 68,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. Beck Bode LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 3.3% during the second quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 335,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,868,000 after buying an additional 10,861 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPL by 4.4% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 14,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 11.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 17,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 1,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter valued at $932,000. 73.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PPL from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. TheStreet cut PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of PPL in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.88.

PPL Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE PPL opened at $26.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $24.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $31.74. The company has a market capitalization of $19.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.83.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.49%.

PPL Profile

PPL Corporation, an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.5 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.