Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Invests $32,000 in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PPL. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,215,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,941 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of PPL by 6.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in PPL by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after buying an additional 3,731,412 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in PPL by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,177,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $566,275,000 after buying an additional 201,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in PPL by 8,266.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $309,060,000 after buying an additional 9,404,382 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on PPL. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the 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 $47,675.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $34.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.99 and a 200 day moving average of $33.20. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $25.93 and a twelve month high of $35.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. PPL’s payout ratio is 90.08%.

About PPL

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.