PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich trimmed its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 399 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in PPL were worth $115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of PPL by 179.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. Bank of America increased their price target on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, TheStreet lowered PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.50.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $27.02 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $19.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $29.03.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.00%.

About PPL

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.