Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 750,033 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 750,033 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of PPL worth $2,981,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in PPL by 1,092.2% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 84.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PPL. UBS Group raised their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets started 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.27.

PPL Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of PPL opened at $34.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $25.93 and a 12-month high of $35.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,951.32. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total value of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.