Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Has $1.04 Million Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. lowered its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 574 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in PPL by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,215,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,941 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in PPL by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,160,760,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,122 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in PPL by 12.0% during the 3rd 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,177,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $566,275,000 after acquiring an additional 201,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in PPL by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was 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 $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at $359,186.40. This trade represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,633 shares of company stock valued at $346,657 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PPL Trading Up 0.3 %

PPL stock opened at $34.82 on Tuesday. 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 one year low of $25.87 and a one year high of $35.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.06 and its 200 day moving average is $32.78.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.