Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Purchases 9,503 Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 45.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,603 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,503 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in PPL were worth $1,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $2,981,760,000 after acquiring an additional 750,033 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.0% in 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. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $891,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,745 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $572,300,000 after acquiring an additional 500,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 12.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,371,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE PPL opened at $33.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $24.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $34.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.13. PPL Corporation has a one year low of $27.24 and a one year high of $36.70.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PPL shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim lifted 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. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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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