PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) Shares Acquired by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,121,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 31,110 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.69% of PPL worth $184,928,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 141.0% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in PPL by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in PPL by 121.4% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock traded up $0.59 during trading on Thursday, hitting $34.35. 1,502,339 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,944,952. PPL Corporation has a 1 year low of $27.29 and a 1 year high of $36.70. The company has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.64. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $34.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. PPL's payout ratio is 80.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

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 in the company, valued at $1,591,065.30. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About PPL

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.