Icon Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 6,143 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 23.6% in 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 19,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,143 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PPL. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 195.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in PPL in the third quarter worth $34,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in PPL in the second quarter worth $29,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in PPL during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on PPL in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.50.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $34.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $25.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.66. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.35 and a fifty-two week high of $35.00.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.97%.

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.