BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Acquires 28,982 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 101.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 57,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,982 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in PPL by 1,092.2% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in PPL by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $35.38 on Tuesday. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.59. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $26.79 and a 12-month high of $36.64. The firm has a market cap of $26.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. On average, 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total value of $52,627.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005 over the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on PPL. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.70.

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.