Northern Trust Corp Acquires 468,789 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,570,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 468,789 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.16% of PPL worth $278,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 84.5% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPL traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.27. The company had a trading volume of 475,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,909,925. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $27.24 and a 52-week high of $36.70. The company's 50 day moving average price is $35.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $26.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is a boost from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PPL. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted 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 upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.90.

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.