Clearbridge Investments LLC Acquires 148,080 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,982,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 148,080 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.81% of PPL worth $194,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in PPL by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. increased its position in shares of PPL by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 78,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 37,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 11,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.27.

Insider Activity

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were 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 owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $35.70 on Monday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $34.23 and its 200 day moving average is $33.30. The stock has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $25.93 and a 52-week high of $35.97.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS 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 issued a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

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.