Swiss National Bank Decreases Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,304,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 65,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in PPL were worth $62,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in PPL during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of PPL by 179.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $28.09 on Monday. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $28.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $20.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.45.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PPL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. TheStreet downgraded shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.27.

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.