Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $2.22 Million Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,454 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 85.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,834,000 after acquiring an additional 51,366 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 2.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,935,000 after purchasing an additional 96,491 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after purchasing an additional 55,594 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in PPL by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,067,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,153,000 after purchasing an additional 188,160 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in PPL during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,218,000. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In related news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.09.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $31.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.78. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.35 and a 12 month high of $35.15.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 91.96%.

PPL 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.