Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Takes $354,000 Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,895 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The increased its holdings in PPL by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 28,002 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. increased its holdings in PPL by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 78,296 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 37,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PPL. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Guggenheim increased their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.90.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $35.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.01. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $27.24 and a 52 week high of $36.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.78 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. PPL's dividend payout ratio is currently 80.74%.

Insider Transactions at PPL

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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.

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