IFP Advisors Inc Purchases 95,107 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 8,599.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 96,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 95,107 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in PPL were worth $3,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA increased its holdings in PPL by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 223,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,242,000 after acquiring an additional 61,522 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter worth about $785,000. TCW Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 13,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,659,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 4,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,633 shares of company stock worth $346,657 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $34.82 on Tuesday. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.87 and a fifty-two week high of $35.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.78.

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 net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

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.