Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Grows Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of PPL by 91.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,977,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778,820 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its position in PPL by 71.3% in the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792,200 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 25.3% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189,339 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of PPL by 5,390.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 563,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,625,000 after buying an additional 552,760 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 44.3% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,662,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,960,000 after buying an additional 510,263 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PPL. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

PPL Stock Up 1.3 %

PPL stock opened at $34.84 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.76. The stock has a market cap of $25.71 billion, a PE ratio of 31.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $25.35 and a 1-year high of $35.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,107.90. This trade represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.