TCW Group Inc. Acquires 421 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

TCW Group Inc. boosted its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the third quarter worth about $345,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 81,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 13,297 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in PPL by 3,322.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 212,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,421,000 after acquiring an additional 206,216 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in PPL by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 48,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after buying an additional 12,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in PPL by 4.2% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 60,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,010,000 after buying an additional 2,474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,633 shares of company stock valued at $346,657 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

PPL Stock Up 0.3 %

PPL opened at $34.82 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.77, 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 current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.87 and a 12 month high of $35.15.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. On average, research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

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

PPL 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.