KBC Group NV Sells 11,829 Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

KBC Group NV trimmed its stake in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 16.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,829 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,829 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in PPL were worth $2,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PPL. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at $261,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in PPL by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 86,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,797,000 after purchasing an additional 9,584 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in PPL by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,081 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in PPL by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 16,293 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 4,323 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,485 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. Citigroup raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of PPL from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.70.

PPL Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of PPL traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $33.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,797,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,969,039. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.21. PPL Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.24 and a twelve month high of $36.70. The firm has a market cap of $24.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.74%.

About PPL

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.