Global Retirement Partners LLC Purchases 299 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 195.5% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of PPL by 1,092.2% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $34.75 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $25.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.75. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.87 and a fifty-two week high of $35.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,633 shares of company stock worth $346,657 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

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.