PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,380 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PPL. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in PPL during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 179.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in PPL during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho raised their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.27.

PPL Trading Up 1.1 %

PPL stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Thursday, hitting $28.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,531,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,964,994. The stock has a market cap of $21.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.51. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $28.92.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.