Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 17.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,116 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in shares of PPL by 141.0% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in PPL by 121.4% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.70.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $33.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $24.79 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.15. PPL Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.24 and a twelve month high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.74%.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.