Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL – Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 15,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $548,000.
Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in PPL in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of PPL by 206.7% during the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC lifted its position in PPL by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 3,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at about $119,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
PPL Stock Down 2.2%
Shares of PPL opened at $34.42 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.91. PPL Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.17 and a 1 year high of $40.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.57.
PPL Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. PPL’s payout ratio is 67.46%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PPL shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of PPL from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Mizuho upgraded shares of PPL to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on PPL from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.33.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on PPL
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, Director Kristen Robinson sold 37,107 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total value of $929,530.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 222,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,583,569.85. This trade represents a 14.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ashley F. Johnson sold 34,993 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total value of $772,645.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 561,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,397,522.56. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
PPL Profile
PPL Corporation is an energy company that owns and operates electric transmission and distribution infrastructure and provides related customer services. The company’s core business centers on delivering electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers through regulated utility operations, maintaining grid reliability, responding to outages and managing customer billing and account services.
PPL’s activities include construction and maintenance of distribution and transmission lines, meter and grid management, and programs to support energy efficiency and the interconnection of distributed resources.
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