Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 690,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 58,995 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $22,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PPL. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in PPL by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after buying an additional 51,366 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 2.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,935,000 after acquiring an additional 96,491 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in PPL by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after purchasing an additional 55,594 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the third quarter worth $1,218,000. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,842,000 after purchasing an additional 124,275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.70.

PPL Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $35.19 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.12. The company has a market cap of $25.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.08, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $25.93 and a 52-week high of $35.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.