PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 7.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,067,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 681,303 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 1.09% of PPL worth $223,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PPL. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth $339,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in PPL by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 5,334 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter worth $3,777,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in PPL by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 741,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,500,000 after buying an additional 26,228 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.18.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $31.96 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $23.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.03, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.82. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $32.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $30.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.63.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.