Kennedy Investment Group Makes New $209,000 Investment in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Kennedy Investment Group bought a new stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in PPL by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,981,760,000 after buying an additional 750,033 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in PPL by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,195,484,000 after buying an additional 2,070,499 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in PPL by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $891,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in PPL by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $572,300,000 after acquiring an additional 500,058 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in PPL by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $411,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371,000 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PPL. 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group increased 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. Guggenheim increased 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, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.80.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $33.75 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $34.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.11. The firm has a market cap of $24.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. PPL Corporation 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.74%.

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.