Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA Increases Position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 19.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 265,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 42,856 shares during the quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA's holdings in PPL were worth $9,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PPL. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 141.0% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. HM Payson & Co. boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 1,057.6% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 984 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 84.5% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Trading Down 0.7%

PPL traded down $0.24 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $33.44. 613,873 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,952,158. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.21. The firm has a market cap of $24.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64. PPL Corporation has a 1 year low of $27.24 and a 1 year high of $36.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. PPL's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. PPL's dividend payout ratio is currently 80.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was 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 owned 45,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group increased their price target 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 raised PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on PPL from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Three research 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.70.

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.