PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Purchased by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 146,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,773 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in PPL were worth $4,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 195.5% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of PPL by 1,092.2% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of PPL by 139.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,633 shares of company stock worth $346,657 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on PPL. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.27.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.84. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.87 and a 52 week high of $35.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.08%.

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.