Zions Bancorporation N.A. Purchases 15,200 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 132,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,200 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in PPL were worth $4,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,218,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its holdings in PPL by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,842,000 after purchasing an additional 124,275 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in PPL by 128.0% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 82,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,641,000 after purchasing an additional 46,071 shares during the period. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 24.7% in the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 307,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,181,000 after purchasing an additional 60,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $34.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $25.93 and a 12-month high of $35.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for 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%. Analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.27.

Insider Activity at PPL

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

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.