Amalgamated Bank Cuts Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Amalgamated Bank cut its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 181,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,662 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in PPL were worth $4,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in PPL by 179.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the third quarter worth $26,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in PPL by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Barclays raised their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho increased their target price on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.27.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $28.36 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $28.93. The company has a market capitalization of $20.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.10 and its 200 day moving average is $26.51.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.