Hilltop National Bank Invests $241,000 in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in PPL by 179.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in PPL by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in PPL by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PPL from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho raised their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.36.

PPL Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of PPL stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.44. 6,501,799 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,980,994. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $29.89. The stock has a market cap of $20.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.37.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.