Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC reduced its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 532,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,158 shares during the period. PPL comprises 1.5% of Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $17,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in PPL by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,115,824,000 after buying an additional 3,731,412 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in PPL by 91.3% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,977,000 after buying an additional 2,778,820 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in PPL by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,160,760,000 after buying an additional 2,050,122 shares in the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 71.3% in the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of PPL by 5.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,215,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,941 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

PPL Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:PPL opened at $32.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.99. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.35 and a 52 week high of $35.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.83.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.