Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,853 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of PPL by 5.2% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,514,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,877,000 after buying an additional 74,738 shares during the period. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 3.3% in the second quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,349,000 after acquiring an additional 6,031 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 767.6% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 3,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 2,679 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 16.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter worth about $284,000. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $31.38 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.94. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $31.45. The company has a market capitalization of $23.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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

PPL Company 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.