PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Purchased by TIAA Trust National Association

TIAA Trust National Association boosted its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1,511.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 122,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 114,719 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in PPL were worth $3,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Haverford Trust Co increased its stake in shares of PPL by 40.3% during the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 16,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 4,743 shares in the last quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. grew its holdings in PPL by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 319,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,365,000 after buying an additional 86,227 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its position in PPL by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 19,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $629,000 after buying an additional 5,613 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,981,760,000 after acquiring an additional 750,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,305,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,375,000 after acquiring an additional 96,664 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on PPL. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.27.

PPL Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.59 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.25. The company has a market cap of $25.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, 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 company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The company 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%. Research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by 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.