California State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 894,002 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 25,510 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.12% of PPL worth $29,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 151.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 152,460 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,949,000 after buying an additional 91,711 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth $941,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth $4,175,000. Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $328,000. Finally, LifeWealth Investments LLC purchased a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $226,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PPL shares. UBS Group raised their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays raised their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, PPL has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.90.

PPL Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE PPL traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $34.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,617,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,970,950. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $27.24 and a 12 month high of $36.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.15.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. PPL's payout ratio is 80.74%.

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.