Strs Ohio Sells 11,328 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Strs Ohio cut its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,328 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in PPL by 2.6% during the first quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 0.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its position in shares of PPL by 0.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 16,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $27.02 on Friday. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $29.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. PPL had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 8.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. PPL’s payout ratio is 103.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

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.