PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Bought by Fulton Bank N.A.

Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,919 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PPL. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 84.5% in 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 during the period. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $34.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $27.24 and a 1 year high of $36.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.17.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PPL shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim increased their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

About PPL

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.