Reaves W H & Co. Inc. Purchases 188,869 Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Key Points

• Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its stake in PPL Corporation by 4.8%, now holding approximately 4.14 million shares, valued at about $149.5 million, making it the 8th largest position in their portfolio.
• PPL Corporation also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2725 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.09 and a yield of 3.0%.
• Several analysts have upgraded PPL's rating, with Barclays rating it as a "strong buy" and Morgan Stanley lowering its target price from $38.00 to $37.00, indicating varying outlooks on the stock's future performance.

Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,139,985 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 188,869 shares during the period. PPL makes up 3.8% of Reaves W H & Co. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.56% of PPL worth $149,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 15,499 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 2,796 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors bought a new position in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $331,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in PPL by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,819,602 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $91,524,000 after purchasing an additional 68,241 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $7,483,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of PPL by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,724,746 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $88,445,000 after buying an additional 292,873 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PPL. Wall Street Zen raised PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays raised shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $36.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total value of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 45,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,633,781.60. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

PPL Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:PPL traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $36.34. 4,320,684 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,052,047. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $34.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.70. The firm has a market cap of $26.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.64. PPL Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $29.97 and a fifty-two week high of $36.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.34%.

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.