The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 10,418 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,795,009 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,418 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.24% of PPL worth $58,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in PPL by 1,092.2% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $36.19. 5,342,331 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,927,308. The stock has a market cap of $26.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. PPL Co. has a one year low of $27.24 and a one year high of $36.70. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.84.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. PPL's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is an increase from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. PPL's dividend payout ratio is 90.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.90.

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.