Amalgamated Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Amalgamated Bank lowered its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,682 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in PPL were worth $4,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $115,605,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in PPL by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 10,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $216,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in PPL by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,333,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,242,000 after purchasing an additional 85,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in PPL by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $32.46 on Friday. PPL Co. has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $32.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $23.95 billion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.89.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on PPL in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.75.

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.