Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 24,325 Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 418,419 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 24,325 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.06% of PPL worth $15,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 84.5% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in PPL by 121.4% in the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Trading Up 0.2%

PPL opened at $33.51 on Thursday. PPL Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.24 and a twelve month high of $36.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.94 and a 200-day moving average of $34.12. The stock has a market cap of $24.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. PPL's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target 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. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.80.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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