Aufman Associates Inc Lowers Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Aufman Associates Inc lessened its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,485 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,182 shares during the period. Aufman Associates Inc’s holdings in PPL were worth $243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 85.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after acquiring an additional 51,366 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its position in PPL by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,842,000 after purchasing an additional 124,275 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in PPL by 128.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 82,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after purchasing an additional 46,071 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 307,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,181,000 after buying an additional 60,966 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of PPL by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 696,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,608,000 after buying an additional 16,188 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company’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 owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $35.70 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $34.23 and its 200 day moving average is $33.28. 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 1 year low of $25.93 and a 1 year high of $35.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. On average, research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. 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.