PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Acquired by Deutsche Bank AG

Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,010,801 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 301,137 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.27% of PPL worth $65,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in PPL by 6.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 882,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,192,000 after purchasing an additional 52,547 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,203 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,223,000 after buying an additional 6,454 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 160,007 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,194,000 after buying an additional 9,722 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co lifted its position in PPL by 576.0% during the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 2,954 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group boosted its holdings in PPL by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 16,614 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $539,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on PPL. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.90.

PPL Stock Up 1.3%

PPL stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $34.88. The stock had a trading volume of 4,822,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,933,219. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.99. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $27.24 and a 12 month high of $36.70. The stock has a market cap of $25.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 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 for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. Research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $39,857.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.