Ethic Inc. Buys New Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Ethic Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in PPL by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in PPL by 47.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 18,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 5,784 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in PPL by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 74,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,405,000 after acquiring an additional 10,888 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at $648,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in PPL by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 190,419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,181,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PPL shares. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.90.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $34.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.78 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $27.24 and a 12-month high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.74%.

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.