Metis Global Partners LLC Buys 1,185 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in PPL during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Newton One Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake 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 period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,779 shares of company stock worth $386,515 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $34.72 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.95. The company has a market cap of $25.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $25.93 and a twelve month high of $35.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. As a group, analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PPL. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.27.

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.