Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Invests $124,000 in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $124,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PPL by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 17,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays increased their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.27.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.78 on Friday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.93 and a fifty-two week high of $35.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.20.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. PPL’s payout ratio is 90.08%.

PPL Company 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.