Aviso Wealth Management Acquires Shares of 7,896 PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Aviso Wealth Management bought a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in PPL by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 132,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,306,000 after acquiring an additional 15,200 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association increased its position in PPL by 1,511.1% in the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 122,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,970,000 after purchasing an additional 114,719 shares during the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co raised its stake in PPL by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 16,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 4,743 shares in the last quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 319,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,365,000 after buying an additional 86,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 19,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $629,000 after buying an additional 5,613 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $34.09 on Wednesday. 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 market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.24. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.93 and a fifty-two week high of $35.91.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, 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 target price for the company. Four 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.27.

Insider Activity

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,951.32. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.