New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 572,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 73,659 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in PPL were worth $18,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Palacios Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $520,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in PPL by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 450,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,642,000 after buying an additional 9,656 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in PPL by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 229,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,450,000 after buying an additional 17,821 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 128.0% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 82,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after buying an additional 46,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PPL. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upped their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

PPL Trading Down 1.9 %

PPL opened at $33.76 on Monday. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.87 and a one year high of $35.15. The company has a market cap of $24.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.14, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.59.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. PPL’s payout ratio is 90.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,794 shares of company stock valued at $661,338 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.