Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 6,091 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Independent Advisor Alliance lowered its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 19.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,091 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in PPL were worth $812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 55,594 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $162,882,000 after buying an additional 1,189,339 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of PPL by 91.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,977,000 after buying an additional 2,778,820 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,766,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,689,000 after acquiring an additional 35,317 shares during the period. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792,200 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $35.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.35 and a 1 year high of $35.14. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $32.89 and a 200-day moving average of $30.79.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.96%.

Insider Activity

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value of $314,680.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,107.90. This trade represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.