Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Raises Stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 15.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,596 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 12,139 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in PPL were worth $3,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 141.0% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in PPL by 84.5% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased 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 purchasing an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on PPL shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Guggenheim raised 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 lowered their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $33.70. 2,797,821 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,969,039. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.21. PPL Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.24 and a 1-year high of $36.70. The firm has a market cap of $24.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.64.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 80.74%.

PPL 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.