Raleigh Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 919 shares during the quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of PPL by 5.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,215,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,941 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in PPL by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,160,760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,122 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in PPL by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,115,824,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731,412 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in PPL by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,177,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $566,275,000 after purchasing an additional 201,417 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,430,000 after buying an additional 55,594 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $32.65 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.83. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $25.35 and a 1-year high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.97%.

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.