John R. Crockett III Sells 1,589 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Stock

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of PPL 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.81. 2,898,804 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,122,749. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.16. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $25.35 and a 12-month 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 stock has a market cap of $24.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.83.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America upped their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays cut their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Four research 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,215,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,941 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in PPL by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,760,000 after buying an additional 2,050,122 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in PPL by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after buying an additional 3,731,412 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,177,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $566,275,000 after buying an additional 201,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 0.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About PPL

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.