Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Boosts Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,784 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 30,345 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in PPL were worth $7,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of PPL by 1,092.2% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in PPL by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PPL Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of PPL stock traded down $0.21 on Friday, hitting $35.41. 1,990,091 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,903,121. The company has a market capitalization of $26.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. PPL Co. has a one year low of $27.24 and a one year high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.90.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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.