LPL Financial LLC Sells 19,977 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

LPL Financial LLC decreased its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,145,673 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,977 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.16% of PPL worth $31,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 95,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,634,000 after buying an additional 8,732 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,029,000. United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in PPL by 12.6% in the second quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 12,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 36,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 5,553 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in PPL during the 2nd quarter valued at $169,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PPL shares. Bank of America raised their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.36.

PPL Stock Up 0.7 %

PPL stock opened at $32.68 on Tuesday. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $32.82. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $30.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.82.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.