Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 30,065 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc decreased its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 837,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 30,065 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.11% of PPL worth $23,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $570,789,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $108,799,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 437.5% during the 4th quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $132,530,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980,626 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in PPL by 50.3% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572,771 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. purchased a new position in PPL during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,713,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of PPL opened at $32.46 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $23.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $30.89 and a 200 day moving average of $28.91. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $32.82.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.75.

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.