Fifth Third Bancorp Has $1.06 Million Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 15.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,925 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in shares of PPL by 121.4% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised 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. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of PPL stock opened at $33.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.97 and a 200-day moving average of $34.13. The stock has a market cap of $24.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $27.24 and a 52-week high of $36.70. 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 (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 80.74%.

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.