PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Bought by Fulton Bank N.A.

Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,360 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. acquired a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter worth $291,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 3,154 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 882,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,192,000 after acquiring an additional 52,547 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,731,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 16,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Up 0.4 %

PPL stock opened at $32.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $23.71 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.83. 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 current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 91.96%.

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.