PPL Corporation $PPL Stake Lessened by HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC has significantly reduced its stake in PPL Corporation by 72.4%, now holding 146,568 shares valued at approximately $5.3 million.
• Several hedge funds have increased their positions in PPL, with notable increases including Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. growing its stake by 141.0%.
• PPL reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, missing analysts' estimates, but showed a revenue increase of 7.7% year-over-year.

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 72.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 146,568 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 385,112 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's holdings in PPL were worth $5,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in PPL by 141.0% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 94.3% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 818 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in PPL by 1,057.6% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 984 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AllSquare Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in PPL in the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $36.70.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $36.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.49. PPL Corporation has a one year low of $30.91 and a one year high of $37.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.88. The stock has a market cap of $27.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.26, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total value of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 45,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,633,781.60. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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