Bayesian Capital Management LP Sells 30,100 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Bayesian Capital Management LP reduced its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 81.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 30,100 shares during the quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP’s holdings in PPL were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $35.62 on Friday. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.24 and a fifty-two week high of $36.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 80.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.90.

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.