Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Has $673,000 Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC cut its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,312 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its position in PPL by 13.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,390,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,726 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 13,891.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,724,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,229,000 after acquiring an additional 11,640,696 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,237,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $217,624,000 after acquiring an additional 592,279 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of PPL by 0.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,850,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $161,405,000 after acquiring an additional 45,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in PPL by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,416,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,063,000 after acquiring an additional 50,533 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPL Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of PPL opened at $28.09 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $20.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.28. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $28.93. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.45.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Argus upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.27.

PPL Company 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.