PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Bought by Callan Capital LLC

Callan Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,131 shares during the quarter. Callan Capital LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,720,941 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $47,675.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,633 shares of company stock worth $346,657 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

PPL Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $34.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.65 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.73. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.87 and a 1 year high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for 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%. Analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 85.12%.

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.