PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Acquired by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 179,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,940 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in PPL were worth $5,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in PPL by 1,092.2% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in PPL by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Guggenheim raised their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.90.

PPL Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $33.87 on Wednesday. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $27.24 and a twelve month high of $36.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.04 billion, a PE ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.74%.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other PPL news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About PPL

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.