Atria Investments Inc Grows Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,887 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,215,363,000 after buying an additional 1,720,941 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,760,000 after buying an additional 2,050,122 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after buying an additional 3,731,412 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,177,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $566,275,000 after buying an additional 201,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,430,000 after buying an additional 55,594 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PPL. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,779 shares of company stock valued at $386,515. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $34.07 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.15, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $25.93 and a 1 year high of $35.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.01.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

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.