11,811 Shares in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Bought by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,811 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $385,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 8,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in PPL by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 230,784 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,491,000 after purchasing an additional 30,345 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of PPL by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 206,155 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,692,000 after buying an additional 4,253 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda increased its stake in PPL by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 9,439 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 2,999 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 14,450 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,706 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Trading Down 3.1%

PPL traded down $1.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $34.42. The stock had a trading volume of 6,605,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,915,799. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $35.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.97. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $27.24 and a 52 week high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. This is an increase from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL's dividend payout ratio is 80.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.