PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 42.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 122,464 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in PPL were worth $5,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,215,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,941 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of PPL by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,760,000 after buying an additional 2,050,122 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of PPL by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after buying an additional 3,731,412 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,177,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $566,275,000 after buying an additional 201,417 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 8,266.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,060,000 after buying an additional 9,404,382 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In related news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,186.40. This trade represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,520,460.72. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PPL. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.27.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $35.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. As a group, analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

PPL 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.