PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA

Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA reduced its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 157,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,093 shares during the quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA’s holdings in PPL were worth $4,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 69,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.4% in the third quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 31,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in PPL during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,142,000. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in PPL by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 128,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,035,000 after buying an additional 41,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its position in PPL by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 41,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 7,750 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE PPL traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,390,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,914,133. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.26. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $29.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $20.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 8.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. StockNews.com raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. TheStreet cut PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

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.