Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 14,774 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $480,000.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of PPL by 1,092.2% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in PPL by 84.5% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at PPL
In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.
PPL Trading Up 0.3 %
NYSE:PPL traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $36.30. 3,590,067 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,927,436. The company's 50 day moving average is $35.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.86. The company has a market capitalization of $26.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $27.24 and a twelve month high of $36.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.
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 net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. PPL's revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
PPL Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. PPL's payout ratio is 80.74%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
PPL has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group increased 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. Barclays boosted their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.90.
Get Our Latest Analysis on PPL
PPL Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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