Borer Denton & Associates Inc. Has $251,000 Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Borer Denton & Associates Inc. lowered its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Borer Denton & Associates Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners raised its position in PPL by 8,266.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,060,000 after purchasing an additional 9,404,382 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,480,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after acquiring an additional 3,731,412 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in PPL by 182.2% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 3,951,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $128,254,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in PPL by 6.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,122 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.27.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $34.09 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $34.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.24. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $35.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $25.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is a boost 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 presently 90.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 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 $47,675.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at $376,951.32. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005 over the last quarter. 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.