PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC decreased its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 62.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,081 shares during the period. 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 also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 13,891.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,724,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,229,000 after acquiring an additional 11,640,696 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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. Covalis Capital LLP increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 132.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covalis Capital LLP now owns 1,962,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,234,000 after buying an additional 1,118,978 shares during the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $21,434,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 60.8% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,326,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,810,000 after buying an additional 879,588 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Up 0.5 %

PPL stock opened at $27.37 on Thursday. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $29.03. 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 50 day moving average price of $26.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.25. The company has a market capitalization of $20.19 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. PPL had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 8.45%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PPL shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet downgraded shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus 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.