PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Sold by Brookstone Capital Management

Brookstone Capital Management lowered its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 353 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in PPL were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after acquiring an additional 3,731,412 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in PPL by 91.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,977,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778,820 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in PPL by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,160,760,000 after buying an additional 2,050,122 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,061,000 after buying an additional 1,792,200 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in PPL by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,215,363,000 after buying an additional 1,720,941 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.09.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value of $314,680.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $33.27 on Friday. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $25.35 and a 12-month high of $35.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $24.55 billion, a PE ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.83.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.97%.

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.