Aberdeen Group plc Sells 90,186 Shares of PPL Corporation $PPL

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc reduced its holdings in PPL Corporation by 8.2%, selling 90,186 shares, resulting in ownership of about 1,007,656 shares valued at $36,341,000.
• PPL Corporation reported $0.32 EPS for the recent quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37, despite a year-over-year revenue growth of 7.7% to $2.03 billion.
• Barclays upgraded PPL to a "strong-buy" rating while Guggenheim raised its target price from $38.00 to $40.00, reflecting a favorable outlook among analysts.

Aberdeen Group plc decreased its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,007,656 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 90,186 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.14% of PPL worth $36,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 5.6% in the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 10,701 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 5.0% in the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 15,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 104.2% in the first quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 56,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,027,000 after buying an additional 28,641 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 4.8% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 37,603 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,358,000 after buying an additional 1,736 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 37.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,062,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $471,756,000 after buying an additional 3,544,282 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total transaction of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,633,781.60. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.70.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE PPL traded down $0.3770 on Thursday, hitting $36.7130. 4,044,093 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,650,644. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.15 and a 200-day moving average of $34.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. PPL Corporation has a 52 week low of $31.22 and a 52 week high of $37.38. The stock has a market cap of $27.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.05). PPL had a return on equity of 8.81% and a net margin of 11.22%.The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. PPL has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.870 EPS. Analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

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.