Thomasville National Bank bought a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 10,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.
A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at about $67,070,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $14,500,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $13,835,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,110,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,310,000 after acquiring an additional 332,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 792,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,351,000 after acquiring an additional 231,718 shares in the last quarter. 67.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
In other PPL news, CEO Vincent Sorgi sold 26,561 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.64, for a total transaction of $734,146.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,492,090.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Gregory N. Dudkin sold 4,747 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.12, for a total value of $133,485.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,893.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,897 shares of company stock worth $996,674 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.
PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter. PPL had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 21.93%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.72%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 9th. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 67.76%.
A number of research firms recently issued reports on PPL. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 15th. Stifel Nicolaus cut PPL to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut PPL to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 15th. Mizuho raised their price objective on PPL from $29.50 to $30.00 in a research report on Friday, March 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of PPL in a research report on Monday, March 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.18.
PPL Company Profile
PPL Corporation, a utility holding company, delivers electricity and natural gas in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company operates through three segments: U.K. Regulated, Kentucky Regulated, and Pennsylvania Regulated. It serves approximately 418,000 electric and 329,000 natural gas customers in Louisville and adjacent areas in Kentucky; 530,000 electric customers in central, southeastern, and western Kentucky; and 28,000 electric customers in 5 counties in southwestern Virginia.
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