Czech National Bank Boosts Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 169,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,501 shares during the period. Czech National Bank's holdings in PPL were worth $6,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,784 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 64,292 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,087,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 107.6% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 8,526 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 4,420 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,097,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,356,000 after acquiring an additional 206,604 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.90.

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 transaction of $61,809.66. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,485 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,065.30. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Trading Down 0.2%

PPL traded down $0.07 on Friday, reaching $34.04. 3,221,912 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,948,984. The company's 50 day moving average is $35.05 and its 200-day moving average is $34.17. The company has a market cap of $25.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.13, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $27.24 and a twelve month high of $36.70. 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 (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. Equities analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors 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 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.74%.

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.