PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Acquired by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 22.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,006 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,834,000 after acquiring an additional 51,366 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its stake in PPL by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,842,000 after purchasing an additional 124,275 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 128.0% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 82,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after purchasing an additional 46,071 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of PPL by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 696,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,608,000 after buying an additional 16,188 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 450,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,642,000 after buying an additional 9,656 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.93 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.41.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.21 billion for 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%. Equities research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. 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, March 20th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.27.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other PPL news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.