ING Groep NV Sells 26,191 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

ING Groep NV lessened its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 72.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 26,191 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in PPL were worth $317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in PPL by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,834,000 after purchasing an additional 51,366 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 2.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,935,000 after acquiring an additional 96,491 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the third quarter valued at about $1,218,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the third quarter valued at about $916,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PPL shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,633 shares of company stock valued at $346,657 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:PPL opened at $34.82 on Tuesday. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.87 and a one year high of $35.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

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.