Farther Finance Advisors LLC Has $1.42 Million Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 81.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,288 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,655 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in PPL were worth $1,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 750,033 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,070,499 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of PPL by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $891,532,000 after buying an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $572,300,000 after buying an additional 500,058 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in PPL by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $411,347,000 after buying an additional 1,371,000 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.85. 4,192,499 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,955,268. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.24 and a fifty-two week high of $36.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The business's 50 day moving average is $34.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's payout ratio is currently 80.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.90.

Insider Activity at PPL

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were 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. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.