Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Invests $28.26 Million in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 870,647 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $28,261,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.12% of PPL at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in PPL by 0.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPL by 6.0% during 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. boosted its position in shares of PPL by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $891,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,745 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $572,300,000 after acquiring an additional 500,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of PPL by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $411,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371,000 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PPL. Citigroup raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price objective 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 upped their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.90.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock traded down $0.78 during trading on Monday, hitting $34.73. The company had a trading volume of 1,394,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,895,570. The firm has a market cap of $25.68 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $27.24 and a 1-year high of $36.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.97. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. On average, analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is a boost from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. PPL's payout ratio is presently 80.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PPL 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.