National Bank of Canada FI Reduces Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 26.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 650,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 237,400 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.09% of PPL worth $17,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in PPL by 179.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in PPL by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $28.36 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $27.10 and its 200 day moving average is $26.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.08. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $28.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. PPL’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PPL. StockNews.com downgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. TheStreet downgraded shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.27.

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.