Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $2.17 Million Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lessened its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 96.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,992,377 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of PPL by 8,266.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,060,000 after acquiring an additional 9,404,382 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter worth $228,509,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $147,480,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 182.2% during the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 3,951,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $128,254,000 after buying an additional 2,551,070 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PPL. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.27.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $34.25 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $34.57 and a 200-day moving average of $33.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $25.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.93 and a 1 year high of $36.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted 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). PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,951.32. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total value of $52,627.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.