Magellan Asset Management Ltd Sells 109,493 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 494,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 109,493 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned 0.07% of PPL worth $16,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $331,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $572,300,000 after acquiring an additional 500,058 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in PPL by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in PPL by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,195,484,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 13,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,227 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.27.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $36.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $26.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.37. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $36.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. On average, analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

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.