Park Place Capital Corp Has $213,000 Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Park Place Capital Corp cut its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 977 shares during the quarter. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in PPL were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in PPL in the third quarter worth $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 1,092.2% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of PPL by 139.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 5,759.3% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,555 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % 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. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target 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. Citigroup upped their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets initiated 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. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

PPL Trading Down 2.7 %

NYSE:PPL opened at $32.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.83. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $25.35 and a 1-year high of $35.15. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 91.97%.

About PPL

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.