Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of PPL Call Options (NYSE:PPL)

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 11,751 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 658% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,550 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. 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 report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.70.

PPL Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE:PPL opened at $36.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $26.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.91, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. PPL has a 1 year low of $26.79 and a 1 year high of $36.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.78 and a 200-day moving average of $33.61.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Equities analysts predict that PPL will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 Activity

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,951.32. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in PPL by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,981,760,000 after acquiring an additional 750,033 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,195,484,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070,499 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $891,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in PPL by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $572,300,000 after purchasing an additional 500,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in PPL by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $411,347,000 after buying an additional 1,371,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

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.