Investors Buy Large Volume of PPL Call Options (NYSE:PPL)

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 2,746 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 75% compared to the average volume of 1,571 call options.

PPL Stock Down 0.7 %

PPL opened at $26.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. PPL has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $29.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.03.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that PPL will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 60,166,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,672,037,000 after purchasing an additional 195,849 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 4.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,759,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,229,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,971,238 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth about $570,789,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 13.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,390,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,726 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,884,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $367,969,000 after purchasing an additional 775,294 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. TheStreet cut shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.