Gotham Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Gotham Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 382,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 44,583 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned about 0.05% of PPL worth $12,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 8,266.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,060,000 after purchasing an additional 9,404,382 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $228,509,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $147,480,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $891,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 182.2% in the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 3,951,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $128,254,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551,070 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PPL. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.90.

PPL Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $35.49 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.97. The firm has a market cap of $26.24 billion, a PE ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $27.24 and a twelve month high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. Analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 80.74%.

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.