Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Grows Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in PPL were worth $672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Key Financial Inc grew its position in PPL by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 3,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 19,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 2,215 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 1,688.6% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 9,608 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of PPL by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 22,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $739,000 after acquiring an additional 846 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in PPL by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,372,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,020,000 after acquiring an additional 70,539 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,633 shares of company stock valued at $346,657. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on PPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

PPL Stock Up 0.5 %

PPL opened at $34.38 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.87 and a fifty-two week high of $35.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.83.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.12%.

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.