Sigma Planning Corp Has $223,000 Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 505 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in PPL were worth $223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of PPL by 8.7% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 496,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,719,000 after purchasing an additional 39,513 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 50.3% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,433,000 after buying an additional 1,572,771 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in PPL by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,067,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,153,000 after buying an additional 188,160 shares during the last quarter. Sagefield Capital LP increased its position in PPL by 70.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 138,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,839,000 after buying an additional 57,569 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 49.8% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 125,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,460,000 after buying an additional 41,609 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America boosted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the 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

PPL stock opened at $33.70 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.46. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.35 and a one year high of $33.75. The company has a market capitalization of $24.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 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.