PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC

Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC lessened its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 383 shares during the period. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of PPL by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in PPL by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 884,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,590,000 after purchasing an additional 46,552 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in PPL by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 866,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,848,000 after purchasing an additional 60,589 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in PPL by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 86,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 4,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in PPL by 260.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 461,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,864,000 after purchasing an additional 333,032 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on PPL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PPL from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.36.

PPL Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of PPL traded up $0.38 during trading on Monday, reaching $29.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,606,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,835,336. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $21.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $29.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.41.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The business’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.