PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Purchased by Global Retirement Partners LLC

Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 299 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in PPL by 195.5% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in PPL by 1,092.2% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in PPL by 139.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PPL shares. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America raised their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

PPL Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:PPL opened at $34.75 on Monday. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $25.87 and a 12-month high of $35.15. The firm has a market cap of $25.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.75.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,633 shares of company stock worth $346,657. Insiders own 0.22% 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.