Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $34.22 Million Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,262,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,208 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in PPL were worth $34,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 179.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $27.02 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.81. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.32. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $29.03.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PPL. Bank of America increased their price objective on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

PPL Company 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.