Key Financial Inc Buys 796 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 796 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in PPL were worth $118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 195.5% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 1,092.2% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 139.2% during the third 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 last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,794 shares of company stock valued at $661,338 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.87 and a 52 week high of $35.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.66.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s payout ratio is 85.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

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.