LSV Asset Management Has $5.16 Million Stock Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

LSV Asset Management trimmed its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 24.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 159,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 52,400 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in PPL were worth $5,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in PPL by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 12,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 8.2% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 104,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,443,000 after purchasing an additional 7,860 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in PPL in the third quarter valued at $262,000. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $34.75 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $34.59 and a 200-day moving average of $33.49. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.93 and a one year high of $36.64. 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 company has a market cap of $25.68 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. 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 payout ratio is 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total value of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $47,675.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,951.32. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group upped 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. Finally, Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.70.

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.