800 Shares in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Purchased by Summit Securities Group LLC

Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,834,000 after purchasing an additional 51,366 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its stake in PPL by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,842,000 after buying an additional 124,275 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 128.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 82,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after purchasing an additional 46,071 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 24.7% during the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 307,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,181,000 after buying an additional 60,966 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in PPL by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 696,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,608,000 after purchasing an additional 16,188 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.27.

PPL Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $35.70 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $34.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $25.93 and a 12-month high of $35.97.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced 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 company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.