PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 446,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 90,394 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.06% of PPL worth $12,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 46,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.7% in the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 58,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 19,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 6.2% in the third quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 8,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Bridge Advisors boosted its position in PPL by 4.0% during the third quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 13,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PPL Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of PPL stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $27.42. 429,093 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,925,182. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $29.03. The stock has a market cap of $20.22 billion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PPL. Barclays boosted their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Argus raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 8th. TheStreet cut shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.50.

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.