Norges Bank Purchases New Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,039,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $228,509,000. Norges Bank owned 0.95% of PPL as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in PPL by 1,092.2% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 84.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC purchased a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on PPL. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.27.

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Insider Transactions at PPL

In other PPL news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was 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 owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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 approximately $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

PPL Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of PPL stock traded down $1.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,277,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,764,555. The company has a market cap of $25.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's 50-day moving average is $34.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.41. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $25.93 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL's dividend payout ratio is 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.