Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases Shares of 230,484 PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 230,484 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,483,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in PPL by 7.1% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 35,796 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,382 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in PPL during the 3rd quarter worth about $386,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 160,417 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,305,000 after acquiring an additional 13,169 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in PPL by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 80,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,655,000 after acquiring an additional 9,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of PPL by 2.3% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 671,173 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $22,202,000 after acquiring an additional 14,971 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on PPL shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 three months, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:PPL traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $34.75. The stock had a trading volume of 4,405,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,817,597. The business's 50 day moving average is $34.59 and its 200-day moving average is $33.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $25.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.93 and a one year high of $36.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) 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 firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. PPL's payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

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.