Royal Fund Management LLC Has $1.08 Million Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Royal Fund Management LLC cut its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 46.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 33,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 29,256 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 17,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY grew its stake in PPL by 2.4% in the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 14,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 3.1% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 1.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $869,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 3.8% during the third quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 11,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.09.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $33.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $25.35 and a 1-year high of $35.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released 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 net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 91.96%.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,107.90. This trade represents a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.