Martingale Asset Management L P Has $6.91 Million Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 311.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 212,949 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 161,200 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in PPL were worth $6,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 11,570 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 613.8% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 122,774 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,985,000 after acquiring an additional 105,574 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of PPL by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 98,485 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,197,000 after acquiring an additional 4,074 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in PPL by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $891,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in PPL by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 40,298 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005 over the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PPL Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE PPL traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.44. The stock had a trading volume of 634,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,802,224. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $36.64. The company has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The company's 50-day moving average price is $34.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.51.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.2725 dividend. This is an increase from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. PPL's payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

About PPL

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.