HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Purchases 223,907 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 72.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 531,680 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 223,907 shares during the period. PPL comprises about 1.3% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of PPL worth $17,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,981,760,000 after purchasing an additional 750,033 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in PPL by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,195,484,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070,499 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $891,532,000 after buying an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in PPL by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $572,300,000 after buying an additional 500,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in PPL by 8,266.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $309,060,000 after purchasing an additional 9,404,382 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

PPL Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:PPL traded down $0.34 on Monday, hitting $35.38. 13,212,428 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,861,687. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $34.73 and a 200-day moving average of $33.57. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $26.79 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $26.15 billion, a PE ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. As a group, equities analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. This is a boost from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $47,675.52. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently 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.