Bank & Trust Co Sells 465 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Bank & Trust Co lessened its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 465 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in PPL were worth $830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in PPL in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in PPL during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in PPL during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in PPL in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in PPL in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.56.

PPL Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:PPL traded down $0.26 on Thursday, reaching $31.59. 1,996,042 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,879,447. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.82. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $23.36 and a 1-year high of $33.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.83 and its 200-day moving average is $29.41.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. PPL’s payout ratio is 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.