Mackenzie Financial Corp Increases Position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in PPL Corporation by 1.6% during Q1, holding 519,153 shares valued at approximately $18.7 million.
• Wall Street analysts have a generally positive outlook for PPL, with upgrades and a target price revision, resulting in an average rating of "Buy" and a target price of $36.70.
• PPL recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2725 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.02%, while maintaining a dividend payout ratio of 80.74%.

Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 519,153 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,263 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 0.07% of PPL worth $18,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in PPL by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,420,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,294,000 after purchasing an additional 115,038 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in PPL by 3.2% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 25,950 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $937,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in PPL in the first quarter valued at $265,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of PPL by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 259,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,366,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 4,627 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE PPL traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.63. 5,285,057 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,395,590. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.64. The business's 50 day moving average is $34.55 and its 200-day moving average is $34.59. PPL Corporation has a 12-month low of $29.97 and a 12-month high of $36.99.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.81% and a net margin of 11.22%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. PPL's dividend payout ratio is currently 80.74%.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total value of $77,636.90. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,633,781.60. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Guggenheim upped their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $36.70.

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.