PPL Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:PPL)

PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 30,316 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,010% compared to the average volume of 1,437 put options.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,485 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,065.30. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in PPL by 0.8% in the fourth 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. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 6.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,938,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,008,861,000 after purchasing an additional 472,979 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in PPL by 37.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,062,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $471,756,000 after buying an additional 3,544,282 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.70.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $35.16 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $34.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. PPL has a 52 week low of $28.31 and a 52 week high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. Analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. PPL’s 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.