Essential Planning LLC. Invests $664,000 in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Essential Planning LLC. bought a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 20,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $664,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in PPL in the third quarter valued at about $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 valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased 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 buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC bought a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,779 shares of company stock worth $386,515 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on PPL shares. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.70.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.06. The company has a market cap of $25.21 billion, a PE ratio of 28.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $25.93 and a 12-month high of $35.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its 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). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 90.08%.

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.