Insider Selling: PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Insider Sells 9,161 Shares of Stock

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.40 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.35 and a 12 month high of $35.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.72.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PPL. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 91.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,977,000 after buying an additional 2,778,820 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in PPL by 6.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,160,760,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,122 shares in the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 71.3% during the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792,200 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 5.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $162,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189,339 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.