First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown Has $550,000 Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown cut its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown’s holdings in PPL were worth $550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PPL. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in PPL by 195.5% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in PPL in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC bought a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other PPL news, 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 value of $213,510.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,633 shares of company stock worth $346,657. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PPL. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $34.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.87 and a one year high of $35.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.67. The stock has a market cap of $25.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 85.12%.

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.