PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Acquired by Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton

Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1,092.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton’s holdings in PPL were worth $39,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of PPL by 12.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,115,824,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731,412 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in PPL by 91.3% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,977,000 after buying an additional 2,778,820 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in PPL by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,160,760,000 after buying an additional 2,050,122 shares during the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 71.3% in the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of PPL by 5.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,215,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,941 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 in the company, valued at approximately $427,107.90. This trade represents a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on PPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.09.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $32.09 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.78. The stock has a market cap of $23.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a PEG 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 current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. 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.