PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) Shares Bought by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. raised its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 435.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,408 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,466 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.'s holdings in PPL were worth $376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth $261,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of PPL by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 86,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,797,000 after acquiring an additional 9,584 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,081 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of PPL by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of PPL by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 16,293 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 4,323 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE PPL traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $33.70. The company had a trading volume of 2,797,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,969,039. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.21. The stock has a market cap of $24.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64. PPL Corporation has a 52-week low of $27.24 and a 52-week high of $36.70.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's payout ratio is 80.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of PPL from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPL has an average rating of "Moderate 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.