Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 91,711 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 151.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,460 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 91,711 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in PPL were worth $4,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in PPL by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,784 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 64,292 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,087,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners raised its position in shares of PPL by 107.6% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 8,526 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 4,420 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its stake in PPL by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,097,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,356,000 after buying an additional 206,604 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Guggenheim boosted 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

PPL Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of PPL stock traded down $0.33 on Wednesday, hitting $34.17. 3,664,130 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,955,809. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $35.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.17. PPL Co. has a one year low of $27.24 and a one year high of $36.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The company's revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.74%.

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.