Mutual Advisors LLC Acquires 562 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.0% in the third 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 raised its stake in shares of PPL by 6.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,160,760,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,122 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 12.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,115,824,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731,412 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,177,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $566,275,000 after purchasing an additional 201,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,430,000 after purchasing an additional 55,594 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,107.90. This trade represents a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $32.88 on Friday. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $25.35 and a 1-year high of $35.15. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.03. The firm has a market cap of $24.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 91.97%.

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.