Sit Investment Associates Inc. Acquires 4,385 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 362,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,385 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $11,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. raised its stake in PPL by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 78,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,480,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in PPL by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 37,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its position in PPL by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 11,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PPL. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.27.

PPL Trading Down 4.8 %

NYSE:PPL opened at $34.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $34.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.41. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.93 and a 52 week high of $36.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.21 billion during 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.2725 dividend. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. PPL’s payout ratio is 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.