PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 270,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,631 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $7,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in PPL by 5.2% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,514,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,877,000 after acquiring an additional 74,738 shares in the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in PPL by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,349,000 after buying an additional 6,031 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in PPL by 767.6% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 3,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 2,679 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in PPL by 16.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in PPL in the second quarter valued at approximately $284,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on PPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.64.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $31.35. 2,166,256 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,931,029. The firm has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.91. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $31.45.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.