PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 66.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,323 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $47,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. West Paces Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the first quarter worth about $93,000. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. grew its position in PPL by 0.5% in the first quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 77,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,087,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 65.2% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 24,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 9,828 shares during the period. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the first quarter worth $748,000. Finally, Steph & Co. purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the first quarter valued at $255,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PPL. Argus upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. 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 research report on Thursday, March 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.36.

PPL Trading Down 0.4 %

PPL stock opened at $27.65 on Monday. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $29.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $28.39 and its 200-day moving average is $27.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $20.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.82.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. PPL’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.