Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Buys 35,024 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 214.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,344 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 35,024 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in PPL were worth $1,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of PPL by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,981,760,000 after acquiring an additional 750,033 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of PPL by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,195,484,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070,499 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of PPL by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $891,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $572,300,000 after acquiring an additional 500,058 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of PPL by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $411,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.04 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.05 and a 200 day moving average of $34.17. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.24 and a fifty-two week high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's payout ratio is currently 80.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,485 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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.

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