Costello Asset Management INC Decreases Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Costello Asset Management INC lowered its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 21.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,435 shares during the quarter. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in PPL were worth $795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in PPL by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 884,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,590,000 after purchasing an additional 46,552 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in PPL by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 866,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,848,000 after buying an additional 60,589 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in PPL by 8.7% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 496,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,719,000 after purchasing an additional 39,513 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 50.3% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,433,000 after buying an additional 1,572,771 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPL by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,067,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,153,000 after purchasing an additional 188,160 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

PPL Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $33.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.40 billion, a PE ratio of 29.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $24.93 and a 52-week high of $33.38.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is 91.97%.

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.