Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Sells 574 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 574 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PPL in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $345,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 81,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 13,297 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 3,322.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 212,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,421,000 after purchasing an additional 206,216 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 48,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 12,609 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 60,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

PPL Trading Up 0.3 %

PPL opened at $34.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.87 and a 12 month high of $35.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.78.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released 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 company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at PPL

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % 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 John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total value of $52,627.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,633 shares of company stock valued at $346,657 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Company 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.