BROOKFIELD Corp ON Makes New Investment in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

BROOKFIELD Corp ON bought a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 722,514 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $23,453,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON owned about 0.10% of PPL at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in PPL by 1,092.2% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in PPL by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PPL traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $35.49. The company had a trading volume of 4,788,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,917,367. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $35.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33, a P/E/G 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. This is an increase from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio is 80.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is accessible through the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim increased their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays raised their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Three investment 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, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.90.

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.