Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Purchases Shares of 28,978 PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 28,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $941,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 28,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $909,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in PPL by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. grew its stake in PPL by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 78,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 37,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions 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 value of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PPL Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.88 on Friday. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $27.24 and a 52 week high of $36.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.18 and its 200 day moving average is $34.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PPL. Barclays upped their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com raised 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 research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.90.

PPL Company 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.