Aufman Associates Inc Lowers Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Aufman Associates Inc reduced its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,485 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,182 shares during the quarter. Aufman Associates Inc’s holdings in PPL were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 84.5% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $47,675.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.27.

PPL Trading Up 2.1 %

PPL opened at $35.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.93 and a one year high of $35.97. The company has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.51, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.28.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 90.08%.

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.