Concentric Capital Strategies LP Makes New $6.64 Million Investment in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Concentric Capital Strategies LP bought a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 204,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,635,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The increased its stake in shares of PPL by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 28,002 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. lifted its stake in PPL by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 78,296 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 37,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.90.

PPL Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PPL stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $35.49. The company had a trading volume of 4,788,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,917,367. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.96. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $27.24 and a 12 month high of $36.70. The company has a market cap of $26.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.74%.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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.