Kentucky Trust Co Buys New Shares in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in PPL by 12.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731,412 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in PPL by 6.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,122 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in PPL by 5.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,215,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,941 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in PPL by 322.6% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,223,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,461,000 after purchasing an additional 933,723 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in PPL by 5,390.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 563,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,625,000 after purchasing an additional 552,760 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PPL shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $34.52 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.52. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.60 and a 52 week high of $35.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $25.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.82, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.83.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given 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 dividend yield of 2.98%. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 91.97%.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In related news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value of $314,680.35. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the company’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 $32,843.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,794 shares of company stock valued at $661,338. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.