Coldstream Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in PPL in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $284,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of PPL by 16.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of PPL by 5.2% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,514,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,877,000 after purchasing an additional 74,738 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 15.7% during the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 2,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter valued at $657,000. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PPL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.09.

PPL Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $32.34 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $23.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.82. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.35 and a 1 year high of $35.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.21.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 91.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.