MML Investors Services LLC Acquires 7,860 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 104,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,860 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $3,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 12,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in PPL in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,847,000. Yaupon Capital Management LP increased its holdings in PPL by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 1,071,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,456,000 after acquiring an additional 177,845 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in PPL by 322.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,223,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,461,000 after acquiring an additional 933,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in PPL in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,015,000. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value of $314,680.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. This trade represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $32.29 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.16. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.35 and a fifty-two week high of $35.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $23.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.82.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.96%.

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.