Argyle Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,535 shares during the quarter. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 4.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 59,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,632,000 after buying an additional 2,342 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in PPL by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 52,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,459,000 after purchasing an additional 7,941 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in PPL by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156 shares in the last quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new position in PPL in the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of PPL by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 184,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on PPL in a report on Friday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.40.

PPL Price Performance

PPL traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.21. The stock had a trading volume of 839,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,776,359. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $24.10 and a 1 year high of $33.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.29 and a 200 day moving average of $29.90. The company has a market cap of $23.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.82.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.35%.

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.