Wright Investors Service Inc. Reduces Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Wright Investors Service Inc. trimmed its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 15.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,972 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $598,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in PPL in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in PPL by 179.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PPL. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America upped their target price on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Argus upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

PPL Price Performance

PPL opened at $26.62 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $26.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.11. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $29.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $19.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 8.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. PPL’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.00%.

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.