Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 4,543,433 PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,543,433 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $147,480,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.62% of PPL at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 85.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,834,000 after acquiring an additional 51,366 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 2.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $140,935,000 after acquiring an additional 96,491 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in PPL by 0.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in PPL during the third quarter valued at about $1,218,000. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $64,842,000 after acquiring an additional 124,275 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $34.07. 8,132,176 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,752,250. The company has a market cap of $25.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.15, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $33.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.00. 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 twelve month low of $25.93 and a twelve month high of $35.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. As a group, analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is a positive change from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on PPL. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.70.

Insider Activity at PPL

In related 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 value of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,779 shares of company stock valued at $386,515 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

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.