Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 17,764 PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 17,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $577,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 1,092.2% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 139.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,520,460.72. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,779 shares of company stock worth $386,515 over the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PPL. Barclays increased their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.27.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $34.72 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $25.63 billion, a PE ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $35.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.95.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. Analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

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.