Insider Selling: PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Insider Sells $39,857.88 in Stock

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $33.90 on Friday. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $25.93 and a twelve month high of $35.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. On average, analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE raised its position in PPL by 15.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 76,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,534,000 after purchasing an additional 10,090 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 284.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 21,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $716,000 after buying an additional 16,011 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 10,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 1,338 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in PPL by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 425,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,080,000 after buying an additional 18,296 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its position in PPL by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 18,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 3,543 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.27.

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.