PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Costello Asset Management INC

Costello Asset Management INC cut its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,435 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in PPL were worth $795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 195.5% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in PPL in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in PPL during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in PPL during the second quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in PPL during the second quarter worth $38,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on PPL. Barclays increased their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

PPL Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $33.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a PE ratio of 29.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $32.40 and a 200-day moving average of $30.21. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $24.93 and a 52-week high of $33.38.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.97%.

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.