Aspire Private Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 25,619 PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Aspire Private Capital LLC acquired a new stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 25,619 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $925,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in PPL by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,981,760,000 after buying an additional 750,033 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in PPL by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,195,484,000 after buying an additional 2,070,499 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $891,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380,745 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of PPL by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $411,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Stock Up 0.5%

PPL opened at $33.75 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.91 and a 200 day moving average of $34.11. The company has a market cap of $24.95 billion, a PE ratio of 25.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.65. PPL Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.24 and a 12 month high of $36.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 9.14%. PPL's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,591,065.30. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three equities research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.80.

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.

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