HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Purchases 60,966 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 24.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 307,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 60,966 shares during the quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $10,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its stake in PPL by 1.7% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 17,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 79,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,209,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY increased its stake in PPL by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 14,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 2,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Finally, Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 11,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PPL Trading Down 1.4 %

PPL opened at $34.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $25.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.82. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.35 and a fifty-two week high of $35.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.88.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 91.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.50.

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.