Stephens Inc. AR Purchases 3,068 Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 18.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,068 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in PPL were worth $717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PPL. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in PPL by 141.0% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. HM Payson & Co. increased its position in shares of PPL by 1,057.6% during the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 899 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of PPL by 121.4% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Up 1.4%

PPL stock opened at $35.64 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.30. PPL Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.49 and a fifty-two week high of $36.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $26.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. PPL’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. PPL’s payout ratio is 80.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PPL. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $36.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 45,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.