PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Position Trimmed by First National Trust Co

First National Trust Co lowered its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 11.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,157 shares during the quarter. First National Trust Co’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 2,647.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 155,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,203,000 after acquiring an additional 149,442 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in PPL by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 11,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its position in shares of PPL by 432.3% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 383,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,391,000 after buying an additional 311,408 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 2,637.1% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 10,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 10,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in PPL by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 1,703 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PPL shares. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.18.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $32.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.76 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a PEG 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. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $32.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.42.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 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 firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

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.