PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Holdings Lowered by Park Place Capital Corp

Park Place Capital Corp cut its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 977 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in PPL were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 17,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its stake in PPL by 2.4% during the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 14,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 3.1% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in PPL by 1.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $869,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 3.8% in the third quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 11,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value of $314,680.35. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $32.65 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.98. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $25.35 and a twelve month high of $35.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.83. 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 (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 91.97%.

About PPL

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.