New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $10.17 Million Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 313,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 25,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in PPL were worth $10,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its position in shares of PPL by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 22,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 3,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPL by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 19,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 2,215 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 1,688.6% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 9,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in PPL by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 22,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 846 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL opened at $34.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $25.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.78. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.87 and a 1 year high of $35.15.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.08%.

Insider Activity

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,633 shares of company stock worth $346,657. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL 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.