WINTON GROUP Ltd Buys New Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 110,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,595,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PPL. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in PPL during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 1,092.2% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 84.5% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC acquired a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were 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 $376,951.32. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPL Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $35.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.95, a PEG 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 $35.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $34.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm 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 forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. Four research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.