Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $1.83 Million Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,386 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in PPL by 2.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,935,000 after acquiring an additional 96,491 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of PPL by 0.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after purchasing an additional 55,594 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,067,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,153,000 after purchasing an additional 188,160 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,218,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in PPL by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 67,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after buying an additional 15,761 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PPL

In related news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.09.

PPL Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE PPL opened at $32.34 on Tuesday. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.35 and a fifty-two week high of $35.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.87, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.82.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 91.97%.

PPL 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.