Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. Purchases 423 Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 141.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of PPL by 121.4% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,591,065.30. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $33.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.11. PPL Corporation has a 52 week low of $27.24 and a 52 week high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 80.74%.

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.