PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by CRA Financial Services LLC

CRA Financial Services LLC cut its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 6.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. CRA Financial Services LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $570,789,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,189,339 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 91.3% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,820 shares during the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 71.3% during the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 21.8% in the 1st 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on PPL in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.56.

PPL Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $31.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.82. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.36 and a fifty-two week high of $33.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.35%.

About PPL

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.