Teacher Retirement System of Texas Lowers Stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 30.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,551 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 50,199 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in PPL were worth $4,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norinchukin Bank The increased its holdings in PPL by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 28,002 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 11,272 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in PPL by 5.0% in the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in PPL by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,930 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its position in PPL by 1.2% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 30,367 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PPL. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim lifted their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was 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 owned 45,485 shares of the company's stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

PPL Trading Up 1.9%

PPL traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $34.40. 1,327,925 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,944,216. The firm's fifty day moving average is $34.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.20. PPL Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.29 and a 1-year high of $36.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $25.43 billion, a PE ratio of 25.47, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's payout ratio 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.