Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Buys New Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $124,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Enhancing Capital LLC purchased a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $678,000. Boston Partners boosted 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 in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in PPL by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in PPL by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 116,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,780,000 after purchasing an additional 16,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV boosted its position in PPL by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 47,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,565,000 after purchasing an additional 5,202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Four investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.27.

PPL Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE PPL opened at $34.78 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.20. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.93 and a one year high of $35.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total value of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $359,186.40. This trade represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $47,675.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,951.32. This trade represents a 11.23 % 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 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by 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.