Alliancebernstein L.P. Cuts Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,583,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 591,886 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 1.03% of PPL worth $246,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 1,092.2% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPL Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $36.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.33. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.93 and a 1 year high of $36.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.88, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.27.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.