PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) Shares Purchased by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in PPL Corporation by 2.1%, owning approximately 704,750 shares valued at $25.4 million as of the latest reporting period.
• PPL Corporation reported quarterly earnings of $0.32 per share, missing estimates by $0.05, but showed a year-over-year revenue increase of 7.7% to $2.03 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2725 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $1.09 and a yield of 3.1%.

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 704,750 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 14,308 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.10% of PPL worth $25,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PPL. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in PPL by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $891,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380,745 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at $70,063,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake 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 worth $411,347,000 after buying an additional 1,371,000 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter worth about $28,261,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 4,095.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 803,375 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,010,000 after buying an additional 784,227 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total transaction of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $35.63 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $34.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. PPL Corporation has a twelve month low of $29.97 and a twelve month high of $36.99. The company has a market capitalization of $26.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.05). PPL had a return on equity of 8.81% and a net margin of 11.22%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Two 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price 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.

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