Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Trims Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 362,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,474 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in PPL were worth $9,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in PPL by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,390,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,048,000 after buying an additional 1,695,726 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in PPL by 13,891.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,724,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $276,229,000 after buying an additional 11,640,696 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in PPL by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,237,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $217,624,000 after buying an additional 592,279 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in PPL by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,850,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $161,405,000 after buying an additional 45,548 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its stake in PPL by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 4,749,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,044,000 after buying an additional 103,734 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $27.24 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $20.09 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $29.03.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. PPL had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 8.45%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. TheStreet cut shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

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.