PPL (NYSE:PPL) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $35.15 and last traded at $34.99, with a volume of 477457 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PPL shares. Bank of America raised their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.27.

PPL Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.81. The company has a market cap of $25.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

Insider Activity at PPL

In related news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $47,675.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total value of $52,627.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,633 shares of company stock worth $346,657. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners grew its holdings in PPL by 8,266.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $309,060,000 after purchasing an additional 9,404,382 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $228,509,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth about $147,480,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of PPL by 12.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,115,824,000 after acquiring an additional 3,731,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $891,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,745 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% 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.