Fisher Funds Management LTD Acquires New Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 360,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,659,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. State Street Corp increased its holdings in PPL by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,215,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,941 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of PPL by 6.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,160,760,000 after buying an additional 2,050,122 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 12.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,115,824,000 after buying an additional 3,731,412 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in PPL by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,177,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $566,275,000 after buying an additional 201,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake 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 valued at $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at $376,951.32. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,633 shares of company stock valued at $346,657 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL opened at $34.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $25.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $25.87 and a 12-month high of $35.15. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.01 and a 200-day moving average of $32.73.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. On average, equities research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 85.12%.

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.