Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Decreases Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 8.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,952 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in PPL were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 44,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after buying an additional 13,918 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in PPL by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 28,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 11,199 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 50.3% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,433,000 after buying an additional 1,572,771 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 460.1% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 42,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,179,000 after buying an additional 35,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in PPL by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 13,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.51. The stock has a market cap of $25.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.35 and a 1 year high of $34.04.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America raised their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on PPL in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.50.

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.