Keudell Morrison Wealth Management Purchases 1,329 Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 11.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,329 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management’s holdings in PPL were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in PPL by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in PPL by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 22,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its position in PPL by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 19,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 2,215 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in PPL by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in PPL by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 89,855 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,917,000 after buying an additional 7,862 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Three research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.80.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:PPL opened at $34.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $25.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $34.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.12. PPL Corporation has a 1 year low of $27.24 and a 1 year high of $36.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

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 $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 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.