Stonebridge Financial Group LLC Invests $600,000 in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 18,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 17,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $558,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at $98,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its holdings in PPL by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 291,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,470,000 after buying an additional 9,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,794 shares of company stock valued at $661,338. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPL Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE PPL opened at $34.53 on Wednesday. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.60 and a one year high of $35.15. The firm has a market cap of $25.48 billion, a PE ratio of 30.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $32.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.96%.

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.