DRW Securities LLC Buys New Shares in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 36,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,218,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in PPL during the 1st quarter valued at $741,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in PPL during the 1st quarter valued at $201,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 44,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 6,331 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in PPL by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 38,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in PPL by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 198,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,455,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Down 0.1 %

PPL stock opened at $34.40 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a PE ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.72. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.35 and a 52 week high of $35.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PPL. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America lifted 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. Barclays lifted their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

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.