Carnegie Investment Counsel Reduces Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Carnegie Investment Counsel cut its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 448 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in PPL were worth $640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at $570,789,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 25.3% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $162,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189,339 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in PPL by 91.3% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,820 shares during the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 71.3% in the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 21.8% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,217,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,105,000 after purchasing an additional 755,689 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $32.08 on Tuesday. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $23.36 and a 12-month high of $33.38. The stock has a market cap of $23.67 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.82. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $31.92 and a 200 day moving average of $29.52.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. PPL’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.