Rafferty Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,156 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.90.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $34.97 on Tuesday. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $27.24 and a 1 year high of $36.70. The company has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.20 and a 200 day moving average of $34.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 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.