SpiderRock Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 7,517 PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in PPL by 179.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of PPL by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PPL shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Argus raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.36.

PPL Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE PPL traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.42. The company had a trading volume of 2,168,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,830,652. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $20.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $29.89.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

About PPL

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.