Mackenzie Financial Corp Reduces Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Mackenzie Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 510,890 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 21,505 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.07% of PPL worth $16,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter worth $217,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 442,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,371,000 after purchasing an additional 17,105 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,797 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $870,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of PPL by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 25,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in PPL by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,784 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Stock Up 0.9%

PPL traded up $0.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.72. The stock had a trading volume of 5,617,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,968,236. PPL Co. has a one year low of $27.24 and a one year high of $36.70. The company has a market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, 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. The stock's 50 day moving average is $35.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.16.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during 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%. PPL's revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. PPL's dividend payout ratio is currently 80.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the firm'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 now directly owns 45,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PPL shares. 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.90.

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.