Fiduciary Family Office LLC Makes New $494,000 Investment in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Key Points

• Fiduciary Family Office LLC recently invested approximately $494,000 in PPL Corporation by purchasing 13,690 shares, indicating a growing interest in the utilities sector.
• PPL Corporation's stock rating has seen positive changes, with Barclays upgrading it from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating, highlighting increasing analyst confidence.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $0.32 per share, missing expectations by $0.05, while also announcing a dividend of $0.2725 per share with a yield of 3.0%.

Fiduciary Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,690 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $494,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 40,298 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,318,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of PPL by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 98,485 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,197,000 after purchasing an additional 4,074 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 613.8% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 122,774 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,985,000 after purchasing an additional 105,574 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its stake in PPL by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 11,570 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in PPL by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 14,921 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total transaction of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 45,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,633,781.60. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

PPL Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of PPL stock traded up $0.58 on Tuesday, reaching $36.86. 11,960,515 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,207,647. PPL Corporation has a 1-year low of $30.76 and a 1-year high of $36.99. The company has a market cap of $27.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $34.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.79.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. PPL's payout ratio is currently 81.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PPL shares. Barclays raised shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. 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 report on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price 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.