Shum Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Shares in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Shum Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 31,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,019,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in PPL during the 3rd quarter worth about $75,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in PPL by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 21,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in PPL during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,218,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in PPL by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 110,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,666,000 after acquiring an additional 15,576 shares during the period. Finally, Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in PPL during the 3rd quarter worth about $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.54. The company had a trading volume of 204,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,882,794. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.35 and a one year high of $35.00. The company has a market capitalization of $25.49 billion, a PE ratio of 30.71, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 91.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on PPL in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value of $314,680.35. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.