Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Acquires 9,525 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 291,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,525 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in PPL were worth $9,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in PPL by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 17,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 78,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its stake in PPL by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 37,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 36,986 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,201,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 14,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PPL. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

PPL Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.12 on Friday. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.35 and a 1 year high of $35.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $25.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.40.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 a total of 19,794 shares of company stock worth $661,338 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Company 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.