Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Reduces Stock Holdings in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 3.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 844 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in PPL were worth $775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in PPL by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $572,300,000 after purchasing an additional 500,058 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC boosted its position in PPL by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,842,000 after purchasing an additional 124,275 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Wealth Management purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $256,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in PPL by 8,266.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,060,000 after purchasing an additional 9,404,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $3,019,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of PPL opened at $34.22 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.86 and its 200 day moving average is $34.12. The company has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.65. PPL Corporation has a 12-month low of $27.24 and a 12-month high of $36.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. Research analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.74%.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPL has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim raised their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.80.

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.