PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. lessened its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,471 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the second quarter worth $29,000. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in PPL in the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.40.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.43. The stock had a trading volume of 3,000,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,805,356. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $24.10 and a twelve month high of $33.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.84.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. PPL’s payout ratio is 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.