AQR Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

AQR Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 521,704 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 28,384 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of PPL worth $16,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PPL. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in PPL by 1,092.2% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in PPL by 84.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PPL. Barclays lifted their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.90.

PPL Trading Up 0.6 %

PPL traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.33. 4,791,584 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,923,629. The company has a market cap of $26.85 billion, a PE ratio of 30.02, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm's fifty day moving average is $35.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.92. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $27.24 and a 1-year high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL's payout ratio is 80.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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.