Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 62,027 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,200,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 62,027 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.16% of PPL worth $33,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in PPL in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in PPL during the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in PPL during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE PPL traded up $0.24 on Friday, reaching $31.79. 4,449,738 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,917,173. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.07. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $31.82. The company has a market cap of $23.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.81.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.82.

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.