Empowered Funds LLC Raises Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,738 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,331 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in PPL by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 1,369 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares in the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth approximately $399,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in PPL by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 78,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,547,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated purchased a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PPL shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

PPL Trading Up 0.5 %

PPL opened at $34.38 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $25.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.67. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.87 and a 52 week high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. On average, equities analysts expect 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 issued a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,633 shares of company stock valued at $346,657 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.