Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 9,407 PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,738 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 1,331 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 128.0% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 82,063 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,641,000 after buying an additional 46,071 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of PPL by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 17,191 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $558,000 after buying an additional 2,871 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of PPL by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 113,658 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,804,000 after buying an additional 2,370 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $33.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $24.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's 50-day moving average is $34.93 and its 200 day moving average is $34.11. PPL Corporation has a 1 year low of $27.24 and a 1 year high of $36.70.

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, 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 net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio is currently 80.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PPL. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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.

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