PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Nuveen Asset Management LLC

Nuveen Asset Management LLC reduced its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,545,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 324,464 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $50,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in PPL by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,981,760,000 after acquiring an additional 750,033 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,195,484,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070,499 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $891,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $572,300,000 after purchasing an additional 500,058 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $411,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the 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 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 available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.97 on Tuesday. 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 market capitalization of $25.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $35.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.06. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $27.24 and a 52 week high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group increased 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.90.

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.