LSV Asset Management Sells 34,000 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

LSV Asset Management cut its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 9.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 311,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 34,000 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in PPL were worth $8,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $570,789,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $115,605,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $108,799,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in PPL by 437.5% during the 4th quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,530,000 after buying an additional 3,980,626 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in PPL by 239.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,128,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,789,000 after buying an additional 2,208,081 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on PPL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.36.

PPL Stock Up 0.8 %

PPL stock opened at $28.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $29.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.42 and its 200 day moving average is $27.37. The company has a market capitalization of $20.98 billion, a PE ratio of 27.61, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. PPL’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. PPL’s 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.