PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Bought by Steph & Co.

Steph & Co. grew its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the period. Steph & Co.’s holdings in PPL were worth $317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in PPL by 85.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after buying an additional 51,366 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,935,000 after acquiring an additional 96,491 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPL by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,067,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,153,000 after purchasing an additional 188,160 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,218,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America increased 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. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.09.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $32.09 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $25.35 and a 52-week high of $35.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.78. The company has a market capitalization of $23.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.83.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.97%.

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.