PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Stock Holdings Lowered by Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC reduced its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 62.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,081 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $201,000 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 business. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 49.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in PPL by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 14,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 4,348 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in PPL by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 69,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 5,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its position in PPL by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on PPL. StockNews.com raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Argus raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $27.37 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. 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 $20.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. PPL had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 8.45%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.00%.

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.