Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 514,124 Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. holds a 12.36% stake in PPL Corporation, valued at approximately $3.30 billion, after a slight reduction in its holdings during the first quarter.
• Analysts have varying views on PPL, with upgrades from multiple firms leading to a consensus average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $36.70.
• PPL recently reported earnings of $0.32 per share, missing estimates, while also announcing a quarterly dividend with a yield of 3.0%.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 91,345,403 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 514,124 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.36% of PPL worth $3,298,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in PPL by 4.8% during the first quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 4,139,985 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $149,495,000 after purchasing an additional 188,869 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in PPL by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,483 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 1,626 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 20,787 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $756,000 after buying an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in PPL by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,433,328 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $87,867,000 after buying an additional 60,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plan Group Financial LLC lifted its position in PPL by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 43,418 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,568,000 after buying an additional 13,478 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock traded up $0.58 on Tuesday, reaching $36.86. The stock had a trading volume of 11,960,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,609,565. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The business's 50 day moving average is $34.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.77. The company has a market cap of $27.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.64. PPL Corporation has a 1 year low of $30.76 and a 1 year high of $36.99.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's payout ratio is 81.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target 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.