NBC Securities Inc. Increases Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 114,907.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 102,357 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 102,268 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in PPL were worth $3,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of PPL by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 169,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,121,000 after buying an additional 9,501 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in PPL by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,373,077 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $49,582,000 after acquiring an additional 95,442 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 4,095.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 803,375 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,010,000 after purchasing an additional 784,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 121.4% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PPL. Guggenheim lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Barclays upped their price target 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Three 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.90.

PPL Trading Down 0.2%

PPL stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $34.09. 946,337 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,941,649. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. PPL Co. has a one year low of $27.24 and a one year high of $36.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.17.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's payout ratio is presently 80.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,591,065.30. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPL 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.