Integrated Investment Consultants LLC Purchases New Shares in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in PPL by 141.0% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in PPL by 94.3% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in PPL in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. boosted its position in PPL by 1,057.6% during the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. Guggenheim upped their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Barclays raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PPL Stock Up 0.0%

PPL stock opened at $36.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. PPL Corporation has a 1-year low of $29.25 and a 1-year high of $36.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.50. The company 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The company 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 was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.74%.

About PPL

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.