PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Purchased by Good Life Advisors LLC

Good Life Advisors LLC increased its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 12.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,115,824,000 after buying an additional 3,731,412 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of PPL by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,760,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,122 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in PPL by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,215,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,941 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in PPL by 322.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,223,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,461,000 after acquiring an additional 933,723 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in PPL by 5,390.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 563,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,625,000 after purchasing an additional 552,760 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other PPL news, 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 transaction 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. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,186.40. This trade represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,633 shares of company stock worth $346,657 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PPL. Barclays reduced their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 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 research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

PPL Stock Down 0.7 %

PPL opened at $34.17 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.87 and a fifty-two week high of $35.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.12%.

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.