Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 45.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,603 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,503 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in PPL were worth $1,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in PPL by 2.9% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 216,974 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,835,000 after buying an additional 6,125 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 123,756 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,469,000 after acquiring an additional 4,328 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group purchased a new stake in PPL during the 1st quarter worth $209,000. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in PPL in the 1st quarter valued at $992,000. Finally, Shum Financial Group Inc. raised its position in PPL by 2.2% in the first quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. now owns 31,463 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 45,485 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on PPL. Guggenheim raised their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of PPL from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.70.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE PPL traded down $0.40 on Wednesday, hitting $33.60. 1,834,843 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,970,957. PPL Corporation has a 52 week low of $27.24 and a 52 week high of $36.70. The company has a market capitalization of $24.84 billion, a PE ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.64. The business's fifty day moving average is $34.67 and its 200 day moving average is $34.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. PPL's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.74%.

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.