First National Trust Co Lowers Holdings in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

First National Trust Co lowered its stake in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 1.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 62,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,076 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PPL. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 15,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $503,000 after acquiring an additional 2,796 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 60,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 11,006 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $331,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Guggenheim upped their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.70.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total value of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 45,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,633,781.60. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPL Trading Down 0.4%

PPL stock opened at $36.04 on Thursday. PPL Corporation has a 12-month low of $29.60 and a 12-month high of $36.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $34.52 and its 200 day moving average is $34.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $26.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is 80.74%.

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.