Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $194.21 Million Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,982,984 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 148,080 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.81% of PPL worth $194,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in PPL by 1,092.2% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total value of $52,627.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,186.40. This trade represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PPL. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.27.

PPL Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL traded down $1.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.48. 8,277,307 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,764,555. 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 firm has a market cap of $25.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.41. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $25.93 and a 1-year high of $36.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. Equities analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. This is a positive change from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. PPL's dividend payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

PPL Company 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.