PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Position Trimmed by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 7.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,623,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 132,722 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $44,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in PPL in the second quarter worth about $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in PPL by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in PPL during the 1st quarter worth $42,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in PPL during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in PPL in the first quarter worth $49,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL opened at $31.17 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $23.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $31.45.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.64.

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.