TIAA Trust National Association Increases Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

TIAA Trust National Association raised its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1,511.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 122,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 114,719 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in PPL were worth $3,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in PPL by 1,092.2% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in PPL by 84.5% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC acquired a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPL has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley upped 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, Barclays increased their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,951.32. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPL Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.59 on Thursday. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.93 and a one year high of $35.91. The company has a market cap of $25.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.25.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. On average, analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.