8,697 Shares in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) Acquired by Equity Investment Corp

Equity Investment Corp bought a new stake in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,697 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its position in PPL by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 28,002 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of PPL by 5.0% in the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,930 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its position in PPL by 1.2% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 30,367 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in PPL by 94.3% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 818 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPL traded down $0.19 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $35.16. 14,448,321 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,073,142. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. PPL Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.31 and a fifty-two week high of $36.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.27. The firm has a market cap of $25.99 billion, a PE ratio of 26.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. PPL's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.74%.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 45,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on PPL. Barclays upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $36.70.

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.