Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Invests $527,000 in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $527,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,302,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in PPL by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,882,000 after buying an additional 1,189,339 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter worth $1,619,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter worth $64,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $32.85 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.13. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.35 and a 12 month high of $35.15. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.83.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. PPL’s 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 transaction of $314,680.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.