PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 26.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 650,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 237,400 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in PPL were worth $17,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 179.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in PPL by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on PPL shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.27.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $28.36 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $28.93. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.10 and a 200-day moving average of $26.51. The stock has a market cap of $20.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 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.