Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of PPL Call Options (NYSE:PPL)

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 12,323 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 522% compared to the average volume of 1,980 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on PPL shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.45.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Philadelphia Trust Co. increased its position in shares of PPL by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Philadelphia Trust Co. now owns 16,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 46,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. increased its position in shares of PPL by 0.5% in the first quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 77,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,087,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Alliance increased its position in shares of PPL by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 19,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $27.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $20.63 billion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.25. PPL has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $29.89.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that PPL will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.