Millstone Evans Group LLC Invests $75,000 in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $75,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in PPL by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after buying an additional 51,366 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in PPL during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,218,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC increased its position in PPL by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,842,000 after buying an additional 124,275 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in PPL by 128.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 82,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after buying an additional 46,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its position in PPL by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 307,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,181,000 after buying an additional 60,966 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $34.78 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.93 and a 1 year 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $33.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.20.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during 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 forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. PPL’s payout ratio is 90.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays increased their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.27.

Insider Activity at PPL

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,520,460.72. This trade 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 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.