First National Trust Co Trims Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

First National Trust Co decreased its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 15.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 77,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,036 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. FMR LLC raised its position in PPL by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,390,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,726 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 13,891.2% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,724,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,229,000 after acquiring an additional 11,640,696 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in PPL by 6.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,237,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $217,624,000 after acquiring an additional 592,279 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in PPL by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,850,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $161,405,000 after acquiring an additional 45,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in PPL by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,416,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,063,000 after acquiring an additional 50,533 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of PPL traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.09. 3,810,483 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,444,747. The company has a market capitalization of $20.72 billion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.00 and a 200 day moving average of $26.39. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $28.93.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the subject of several research reports. TheStreet cut shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.27.

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.