Elevated Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Elevated Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 353 shares during the quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 83.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 318,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,815,000 after purchasing an additional 145,446 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in PPL by 4.5% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 47,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,068 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in PPL by 41.1% in the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 3,417 shares in the last quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of PPL by 482.6% in the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 257,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,127,000 after buying an additional 213,520 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 216,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,995,000 after buying an additional 52,350 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PPL. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.09.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL traded down $0.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $31.68. 4,789,381 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,632,785. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.35 and a 1 year high of $35.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.73.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.