Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $6.18 Million Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 190,419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $6,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 1.7% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 17,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its position in PPL by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 14,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 3.1% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 1.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 3.8% in the third quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 11,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Barclays upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.09.

PPL Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE PPL opened at $33.27 on Friday. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $25.35 and a 1-year high of $35.15. The company has a market capitalization of $24.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $33.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. PPL’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.