Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Has $835,000 Stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 378 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in PPL were worth $835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of PPL by 141.0% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in PPL by 94.3% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in PPL during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in PPL by 1,057.6% during the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Barclays raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.70.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 45,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of PPL stock opened at $36.59 on Monday. PPL Corporation has a twelve month low of $29.25 and a twelve month high of $36.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 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 analyst estimates 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is 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.