Sandy Spring Bank Increases Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Sandy Spring Bank lifted its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 30.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 675 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in PPL were worth $79,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its stake in shares of PPL by 3.7% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 350,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,501,000 after purchasing an additional 12,428 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in PPL by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,292,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,480,000 after buying an additional 50,658 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in PPL by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 341,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,779,000 after buying an additional 29,496 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in PPL by 1.2% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 409,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,697,000 after buying an additional 4,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in PPL by 7.7% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 10,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $26.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $29.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.04.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 8.90%. PPL’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s payout ratio is 103.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PPL shares. StockNews.com lowered PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased 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. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

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.