Raleigh Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 30.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,320 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,843 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in PPL were worth $1,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 141.0% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. HM Payson & Co. boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 1,057.6% during the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 984 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock traded up $0.56 on Thursday, reaching $34.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,154,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,950,975. The company has a market capitalization of $25.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.64. PPL Corporation has a 52-week low of $27.29 and a 52-week high of $36.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 45,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,591,065.30. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PPL shares. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.70.

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.