PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) COO David J. Bonenberger Sells 1,767 Shares

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $34.72. 5,617,847 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,970,951. 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 Co. has a one year low of $27.24 and a one year high of $36.70. The company's 50 day moving average is $35.17 and its 200 day moving average is $34.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio is 80.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PPL by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,981,760,000 after purchasing an additional 750,033 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of PPL by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,195,484,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070,499 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of PPL by 1.7% during the 1st 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $572,300,000 after purchasing an additional 500,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in shares of PPL by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,062,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $471,756,000 after purchasing an additional 3,544,282 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% 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.