PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Bought by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,371,000 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 1.72% of PPL worth $411,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 2.9% during 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 during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $64,842,000 after buying an additional 124,275 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 128.0% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 82,063 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,641,000 after buying an additional 46,071 shares during the period. Aviso Wealth Management purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter worth $256,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in PPL by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 696,487 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $22,608,000 after buying an additional 16,188 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE:PPL traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $34.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,394,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,895,570. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $27.24 and a 1 year high of $36.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.18 and a 200-day moving average of $33.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.69 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm's revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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 target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim upped their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.90.

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.