Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 2,999 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,999 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in PPL were worth $1,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $24,590,000 after buying an additional 46,552 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 86,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after buying an additional 4,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 52.1% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 154,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,197,000 after buying an additional 52,870 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of PPL traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.44. 4,653,379 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,244,027. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $29.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.46.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PPL. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on PPL from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho lifted their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.36.

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.