PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Bought by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 146,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,773 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in PPL were worth $4,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in PPL by 195.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in PPL during the third quarter worth $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in PPL by 139.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,633 shares of company stock worth $346,657. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.27.

PPL Stock Down 1.0 %

PPL opened at $34.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.84. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.87 and a 52 week high of $35.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.2725 dividend. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

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.