PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Stake Boosted by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,399 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,019,000. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 47.9% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 36,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 11,767 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPL by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 115,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,746,000 after buying an additional 4,603 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 186,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,053,000 after buying an additional 24,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in PPL by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 398,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,810,000 after buying an additional 17,200 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PPL shares. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.70.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the business’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 owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PPL Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $34.82 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 stock has a market capitalization of $25.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.93 and a 1 year high of $35.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.14.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Analysts expect 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. Stockholders 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 3.13%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.