PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Purchased by TD Private Client Wealth LLC

TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 32.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,703 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in PPL by 5.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,215,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,941 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in PPL by 6.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,050,122 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,177,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $566,275,000 after buying an additional 201,417 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in PPL by 8,266.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,060,000 after buying an additional 9,404,382 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPL Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE PPL opened at $34.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.20. The firm has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.93 and a one year high of $35.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.27.

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.