Brown Advisory Inc. Acquires 1,175 Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 13.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PPL. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth $4,631,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in PPL by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 1,399 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 846 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in PPL by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 690,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,412,000 after purchasing an additional 58,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 73,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,396,000 after buying an additional 5,410 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PPL shares. UBS Group upped their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 45,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Up 1.7%

PPL opened at $35.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.27. PPL Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.98 and a 1-year high of $36.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.