Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Has $2.75 Million Stock Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 101,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 18,018 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 58,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 16,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $26.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.81. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $29.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.11.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced 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 business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.2575 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on PPL. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. TheStreet downgraded PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.