Ameriprise Financial Inc. Cuts Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 303,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,072 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $9,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $385,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 8,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of PPL by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 230,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,491,000 after purchasing an additional 30,345 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 206,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,692,000 after purchasing an additional 4,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda boosted its position in shares of PPL by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 9,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 2,999 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PPL shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.90.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $34.97 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $27.24 and a 12 month high of $36.70. The stock has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $35.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.06.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. PPL’s payout ratio is 80.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

PPL 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.