Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 750,033 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.45% of PPL worth $2,981,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in PPL by 1,092.2% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 84.5% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC bought a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.93 and a 1 year high of $35.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $34.10 and a 200 day moving average of $33.24.

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). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays upped their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.27.

PPL Company 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.