PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by SRS Capital Advisors Inc.

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 54.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,737 shares during the quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $39,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 46,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance grew its position in PPL by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 19,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 8,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Bridge Advisors lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 13,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Argus raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.27.

PPL Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $28.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.73. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $28.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.02 and a 200-day moving average of $26.42. The company has a market capitalization of $20.72 billion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. PPL’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.