Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 2,781 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,781 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,834,000 after acquiring an additional 51,366 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of PPL by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,218,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,842,000 after acquiring an additional 124,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $916,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPL Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.78 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.20. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.93 and a 1 year high of $35.91. The company has a market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.08%.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total value of $52,627.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PPL. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.27.

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.