Raleigh Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Raleigh Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 919 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,571,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,098,000 after purchasing an additional 202,296 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in PPL by 2.8% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 48,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in PPL by 31.4% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 12,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 2,982 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in PPL by 5.0% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 11,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 10.0% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 107,111 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,962,000 after acquiring an additional 9,704 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $32.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.83. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.35 and a one year high of $35.15. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on PPL shares. Barclays cut their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was 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 $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Company 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.