Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN Has $40,000 Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN decreased its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 27.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 541 shares during the quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN’s holdings in PPL were worth $40,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth about $570,789,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $115,605,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,799,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 437.5% during the fourth quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,530,000 after purchasing an additional 3,980,626 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in PPL by 239.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,128,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208,081 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $27.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,935,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,961,247. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $29.89. The company has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.32.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its 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. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Argus upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.36.

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.