Barclays PLC Decreases Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Barclays PLC lowered its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,191,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 196,949 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $71,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in PPL by 1,092.2% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in PPL by 84.5% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $35.34 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.53. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $26.13 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64. The company has a market cap of $26.12 billion, a PE ratio of 29.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.70.

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.