Bangor Savings Bank Sells 320 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Bangor Savings Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 20.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 320 shares during the quarter. Bangor Savings Bank’s holdings in PPL were worth $46,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in shares of PPL by 121.4% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PPL Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE PPL opened at $34.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.13, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.17. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $27.24 and a 12 month high of $36.70. 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 (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. On average, analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PPL. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Guggenheim upped their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,485 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,065.30. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.28% 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.