The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Holdings in PPL Corporation $PPL

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in PPL Corporation by 2.0%, selling 36,620 shares and holding approximately 1.76 million shares valued at $63.5 million.
• PPL reported earnings of $0.32 per share for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37, despite experiencing a 7.7% year-over-year revenue increase to $2.03 billion.
• PPL Corporation recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2725, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.09 and a dividend yield of 3.0%, with a payout ratio of 81.34%.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,758,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 36,620 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.24% of PPL worth $63,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 79,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,824,000 after acquiring an additional 11,782 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,975,310 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $107,438,000 after purchasing an additional 250,564 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 30,603 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 9,503 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 9,748 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in PPL during the 1st quarter worth approximately $992,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,633,781.60. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock traded up $0.24 during trading on Thursday, hitting $36.46. The stock had a trading volume of 2,122,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,591,849. PPL Corporation has a 1 year low of $31.22 and a 1 year high of $37.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock's 50 day moving average is $35.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.09. The stock has a market cap of $26.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.65.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.99 billion. PPL had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 8.81%. PPL's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. PPL has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.870 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. PPL's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $36.70.

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.