Magellan Asset Management Ltd Decreases Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd cut its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 494,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 109,493 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in PPL were worth $16,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 85.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after buying an additional 51,366 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its stake in PPL by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,842,000 after acquiring an additional 124,275 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 128.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 82,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after acquiring an additional 46,071 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in PPL by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 696,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,608,000 after acquiring an additional 16,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 450,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,642,000 after purchasing an additional 9,656 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 $36.18 on Thursday. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.93 and a 1 year high of $36.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $34.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.27.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

About PPL

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.