PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Bought by Larson Financial Group LLC

Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 84.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $41,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 85.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after acquiring an additional 51,366 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 2.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,935,000 after acquiring an additional 96,491 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in PPL by 0.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the third quarter worth $1,218,000. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,842,000 after buying an additional 124,275 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, 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 value of $52,627.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at $359,186.40. This trade represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,779 shares of company stock valued at $386,515. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.70.

PPL Stock Up 0.5 %

PPL opened at $34.15 on Friday. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.93 and a fifty-two week high of $35.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.22, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released 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 net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. On average, 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 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.