Yaupon Capital Management LP Trims Stake in PPL Corporation $PPL

Key Points

• Yaupon Capital Management LP has reduced its stake in PPL Corporation by 17.8%, holding 643,928 shares after selling 139,188 shares this quarter.
• PPL Corporation has recently seen mixed analyst ratings, with Barclays upgrading the stock to "strong-buy" while Wall Street Zen downgraded it from "hold" to "sell."
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2725 per share, yielding 3.1%, to be paid on October 1st to shareholders recorded by September 10th.

Yaupon Capital Management LP lowered its holdings in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 17.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 643,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 139,188 shares during the quarter. PPL makes up 1.2% of Yaupon Capital Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Yaupon Capital Management LP owned about 0.09% of PPL worth $23,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in PPL by 1.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,938,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,008,861,000 after purchasing an additional 472,979 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of PPL by 37.2% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of PPL by 0.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,598,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $310,503,000 after acquiring an additional 28,589 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 1.4% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,998,199 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $288,815,000 after acquiring an additional 109,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in PPL by 3.9% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 7,881,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $284,608,000 after buying an additional 297,999 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PPL shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of PPL in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.70.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of PPL stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 45,560 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

PPL Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE PPL traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $36.17. The stock had a trading volume of 2,841,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,876,618. PPL Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $31.22 and a fifty-two week high of $37.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.59. The business's 50-day moving average price is $36.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.17. The company has a market cap of $26.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.65.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. PPL had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 8.81%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. PPL has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.870 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.34%.

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.