PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Stock Position Raised by Level Four Advisory Services LLC

Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,834,000 after purchasing an additional 51,366 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its stake in PPL by 6.6% during the 4th 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 128.0% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 82,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after buying an additional 46,071 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 24.7% in the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 307,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,181,000 after buying an additional 60,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 696,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,608,000 after acquiring an additional 16,188 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Stock Up 1.2 %

PPL stock opened at $36.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $36.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.33.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. Equities research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on PPL shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.27.

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.