Cetera Investment Advisers Purchases 96,126 Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 53.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 275,934 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 96,126 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in PPL were worth $9,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 15,499 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 2,796 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 60,366 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,959,000 after acquiring an additional 11,006 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,038 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 880 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, World Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth about $331,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $35.63. The company had a trading volume of 5,285,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,395,590. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $34.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.59. PPL Corporation has a 1-year low of $29.97 and a 1-year high of $36.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $26.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.05). PPL had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 8.81%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total transaction of $77,636.90. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,633,781.60. This trade represents a 4.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Barclays raised shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.70.

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.