Sit Investment Associates Inc. Has $12.01 Million Stock Holdings in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Key Points

• Sit Investment Associates Inc. reduced its stake in PPL Corporation by 8.2% in Q1, holding 332,615 shares valued at approximately $12.01 million.
• Institutional investors own 76.99% of PPL's stock, with significant increases from firms like Boston Partners and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in their respective Q1 investments.
• PPL recently reported a missed earnings estimate of $0.32 per share, below the expected $0.37, but achieved a revenue increase of 7.7% year-over-year amounting to $2.03 billion.

Sit Investment Associates Inc. trimmed its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 332,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 29,835 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc.'s holdings in PPL were worth $12,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PPL. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of PPL by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,062,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $471,756,000 after acquiring an additional 3,544,282 shares during the period. Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,063,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in PPL during the 1st quarter worth approximately $60,020,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in PPL by 42.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,779,155 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $172,575,000 after buying an additional 1,434,778 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in PPL by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $411,347,000 after buying an additional 1,371,000 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 directly owned 45,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,633,781.60. This trade represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $37.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64. PPL Corporation has a twelve month low of $30.76 and a twelve month high of $37.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.87 and a 200-day moving average of $34.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.05). PPL had a return on equity of 8.81% and a net margin of 11.22%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. PPL's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on PPL shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Guggenheim raised 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.70.

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.

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