Wayfinding Financial LLC Makes New Investment in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 6,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 68,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,212,000 after purchasing an additional 16,703 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 45,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 4,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $124,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPL Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:PPL opened at $34.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $33.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.19. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.93 and a 1 year high of $35.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its 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). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. As a group, analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $47,675.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,951.32. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 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 value of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,520,460.72. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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