PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Purchased by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,494 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in PPL were worth $3,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PPL. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 84.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. 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 worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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 available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

PPL Trading Down 0.2%

PPL stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $34.04. The stock had a trading volume of 3,221,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,946,386. The company's 50-day moving average price is $35.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $25.16 billion, a PE ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $27.24 and a 12-month high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.90.

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.