Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Cuts Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,952 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in PPL were worth $723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PPL. Leelyn Smith LLC raised its stake in PPL by 0.4% in the second quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 79,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,209,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its position in PPL by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 2,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 3.4% during the second quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 11,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in PPL by 1.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $869,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.35 and a one year high of $34.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.51.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.96%.

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.