Raleigh Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 30.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in 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 during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings 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 holdings 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. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Barclays raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $36.70.

PPL Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE PPL traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $33.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 821,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,951,655. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $24.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.64. PPL Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.25 and a 12 month high of $36.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.21.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at PPL

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,485 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.