Wealth Alliance Has $536,000 Stock Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Wealth Alliance boosted its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in PPL were worth $536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 46,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its stake in shares of PPL by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 58,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the period. Kinneret Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 10,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Up 1.6 %

PPL opened at $26.42 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.73. PPL Co. has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $29.03.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. PPL had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 8.90%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PPL. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Argus upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 8th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Bank of America upped their target price on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, TheStreet cut PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.