M&T Bank Corp Cuts Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

M&T Bank Corp lowered its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 81,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,199 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of PPL by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 72,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,346,000 after buying an additional 4,887 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 32,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 2,809 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 3,936,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,795,000 after acquiring an additional 550,302 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,899,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $159,046,000 after acquiring an additional 132,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 182.2% in the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 3,951,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $128,254,000 after acquiring an additional 2,551,070 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,779 shares of company stock valued at $386,515. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $34.07 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.15, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $25.93 and a 1-year high of $35.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.70.

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.