Brooklyn Investment Group Invests $75,000 in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $75,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after buying an additional 55,594 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $162,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189,339 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 2,778,820 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,766,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,689,000 after purchasing an additional 35,317 shares during the period. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 71.3% in the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792,200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, 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 transaction of $314,680.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,107.90. This trade represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.50.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $35.00 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.95 and a 200-day moving average of $30.82. The firm has a market cap of $25.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $25.35 and a 1-year high of $35.14.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 91.96%.

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.