Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Acquires 533 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in PPL by 195.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in PPL by 1,092.2% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in PPL by 139.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in PPL by 5,759.3% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value of $314,680.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

PPL Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE PPL opened at $32.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.83. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.35 and a fifty-two week high of $35.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 91.97%.

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.