Insider Selling: PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) COO Sells $32,843.88 in Stock

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

PPL Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:PPL opened at $33.59 on Friday. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.35 and a 52 week high of $35.15. The stock has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.99, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. PPL’s payout ratio is 91.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 85.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after purchasing an additional 51,366 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in PPL by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,935,000 after purchasing an additional 96,491 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in PPL by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,430,000 after buying an additional 55,594 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,218,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the 3rd quarter worth $916,000. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PPL. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

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.