National Bank of Canada FI Sells 773,291 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 63.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 449,837 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 773,291 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.06% of PPL worth $14,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in PPL by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 78,296 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Choreo LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 37,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 11,272 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PPL. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.27.

PPL Trading Down 1.2 %

PPL stock traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $33.77. 1,852,445 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,091,516. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $25.93 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The stock's fifty day moving average is $34.56 and its 200-day moving average is $33.46. The company has a market cap of $24.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 3.23%. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.08%.

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.