Berkeley Capital Partners LLC Buys 780 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Berkeley Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 1,092.2% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 84.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Newton One Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in PPL by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 846 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total value of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.70.

PPL Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $35.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.87 and a 200 day moving average of $33.16. The firm has a market cap of $25.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.93, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.93 and a 1 year high of $35.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.08%.

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.