NewEdge Wealth LLC Buys 5,834 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 33,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,834 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in shares of PPL by 1,092.2% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Newton One Investments LLC bought a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in PPL by 139.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,633 shares of company stock worth $346,657 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $35.23 on Monday. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.87 and a 12 month high of $35.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.89.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. On average, equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four 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, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.27.

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.