Insider Selling: PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Insider Sells 1,146 Shares of Stock

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $34.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $25.93 and a 12-month high of $35.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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). PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 90.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PPL. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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. Barclays upped their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.27.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPL. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in PPL by 15.2% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 76,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,534,000 after buying an additional 10,090 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 284.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 21,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $716,000 after acquiring an additional 16,011 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 10,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 4.5% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 425,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,080,000 after purchasing an additional 18,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its position in PPL by 23.9% in the third quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 18,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 3,543 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Company 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.