Amundi Raises Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Amundi lifted its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 398,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,200 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.05% of PPL worth $12,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 1.7% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 17,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. lifted its stake 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 worth $2,480,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 37,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PPL. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.70.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,779 shares of company stock worth $386,515. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE:PPL opened at $34.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.08. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $25.93 and a 12-month high of $35.91.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. Equities research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

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.