Simplicity Solutions LLC Sells 900 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Simplicity Solutions LLC lowered its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of PPL by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 171,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,050,000 after purchasing an additional 9,905 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,412,000. FMR LLC grew its position in PPL by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,390,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in PPL by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,498,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,303,000 after acquiring an additional 178,898 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $26.01 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.73. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $29.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 8.90%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Argus upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.50.

PPL Company 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.