Steph & Co. Cuts Position in PPL Corporation $PPL

Steph & Co. decreased its holdings in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 17.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,817 shares during the period. Steph & Co.’s holdings in PPL were worth $287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in PPL by 141.0% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of PPL by 94.3% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 8,350.0% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in PPL during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in PPL by 5,352.9% during the 1st quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPL has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.78.

Insider Transactions at PPL

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

PPL Price Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $36.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.65. PPL Corporation has a 1-year low of $31.22 and a 1-year high of $37.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $36.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.25.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.99 billion. PPL had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 8.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. PPL has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.870 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.34%.

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.