Bank & Trust Co Sells 942 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Bank & Trust Co decreased its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 942 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in PPL were worth $784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of PPL by 12.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after acquiring an additional 3,731,412 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in PPL by 91.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,820 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in PPL by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,760,000 after buying an additional 2,050,122 shares during the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 71.3% in the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,061,000 after buying an additional 1,792,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,215,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,941 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value of $314,680.35. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Up 0.6 %

PPL traded up $0.18 on Tuesday, hitting $31.91. The company had a trading volume of 689,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,589,524. The company has a market cap of $23.55 billion, a PE ratio of 28.49, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.61. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $25.35 and a 12-month high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PPL shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.09.

PPL 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.