Curbstone Financial Management Corp Takes Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Curbstone Financial Management Corp bought a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 12,472 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $450,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in PPL by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,981,760,000 after acquiring an additional 750,033 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,195,484,000 after buying an additional 2,070,499 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $891,532,000 after buying an additional 3,380,745 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $572,300,000 after buying an additional 500,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of PPL by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $411,347,000 after buying an additional 1,371,000 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,485 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,065.30. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE:PPL traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $34.35. 4,639,428 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,952,429. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.16. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $27.24 and a 52 week high of $36.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $2.50 billion for 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%. PPL's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PPL. UBS Group increased their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim increased their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.90.

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.