Atria Investments Inc Invests $1.18 Million in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 21st, 2023

Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 40,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,177,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PPL. CI Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 989.9% in the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the period. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 56.3% during the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the period. 70.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. TheStreet downgraded PPL from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on PPL from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on PPL from $32.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, March 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $154,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,508. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $28.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.77 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.71 and a 200-day moving average of $28.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $23.47 and a 52 week high of $31.74.

PPL (NYSE:PPL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.28. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business’s revenue was up 54.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.20%.

PPL Company Profile

(Get Rating)

PPL Corp. engages in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. It operates through the two reportable segments: Kentucky Regulated & Pennsylvania Regulated. The Kentucky Regulated segment consists of LKE’s regulated electricity generation, transmission and distribution operations of Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company as well as regulated distribution and sale of natural gas of Louisville Gas and Electric Company.