PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. cut its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 654 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in PPL were worth $654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at $570,789,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in PPL by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 8,952,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $242,616,000 after acquiring an additional 340,686 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 91.3% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,820 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 437.5% during the fourth quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,530,000 after purchasing an additional 3,980,626 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 50.3% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572,771 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PPL. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.80.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $31.87 on Tuesday. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $23.34 and a twelve month high of $33.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.70 and a 200-day moving average of $29.32. The firm has a market cap of $23.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.82.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

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.