Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Sells 9,131 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lessened its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 20.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,131 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in PPL were worth $949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 46,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance lifted its position in PPL by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 19,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC lifted its position in PPL by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 8,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors lifted its position in PPL by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 13,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in PPL by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 61,535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Down 0.3 %

PPL opened at $27.30 on Friday. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year 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 company has a market cap of $20.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $26.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.26.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 103.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Argus raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

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.