Fernwood Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Fernwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $406,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in PPL by 1,092.2% during the 4th 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 increased its holdings in shares of 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.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,845 shares of the company's stock, valued at $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on PPL. UBS Group lifted their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays upped 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 upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.70.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL traded up $0.67 during trading on Monday, hitting $35.41. The company had a trading volume of 1,255,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,803,777. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $36.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.49.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. As a group, analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. This is a boost from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

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.