Private Advisor Group LLC Has $2.92 Million Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,855 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,862 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America raised 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. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $34.82 on Tuesday. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.87 and a 12 month high of $35.15. The company has a market capitalization of $25.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.06 and a 200 day moving average of $32.78. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,633 shares of company stock worth $346,657. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.