PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) Shares Acquired by Artemis Investment Management LLP

Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its position in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 33.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 645,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 163,051 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in PPL were worth $23,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 141.0% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in PPL by 121.4% in the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $33.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $24.87 billion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.12. PPL Corporation has a 52 week low of $27.24 and a 52 week high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,591,065.30. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.80.

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.