Brown Advisory Inc. Increases Stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 13.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its position in PPL by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 28,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $909,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.0% during the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in PPL by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 1.2% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 30,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 141.0% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim upped their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report 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 cut their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $36.70.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 45,485 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PPL Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $35.36 on Wednesday. PPL Corporation has a 12-month low of $27.98 and a 12-month high of $36.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $26.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.64.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. PPL’s payout ratio is 80.74%.

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.