PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,889,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 65,567 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $256,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners lifted 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 valued at $309,060,000 after purchasing an additional 9,404,382 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $228,509,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $147,480,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in PPL by 12.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,731,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in PPL by 182.2% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 3,951,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $128,254,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551,070 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $34.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.41. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $25.93 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

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.