SVB Wealth LLC Invests $261,000 in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,834,000 after acquiring an additional 51,366 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,935,000 after acquiring an additional 96,491 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the third quarter valued at about $1,218,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the third quarter valued at about $916,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.57 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $25.52 billion, a PE ratio of 28.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $35.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.96.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. PPL’s payout ratio is 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,779 shares of company stock valued at $386,515. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.27.

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.