Bridgewater Associates LP Purchases New Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 704,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $22,856,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 137,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,470,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter worth about $320,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $328,000. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 420.3% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 375,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,175,000 after acquiring an additional 302,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in PPL by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 6,987,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,811,000 after acquiring an additional 188,500 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $359,186.40. This trade represents a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PPL shares. UBS Group lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Barclays upped their target price 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, Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.70.

PPL Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $35.37 on Wednesday. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $36.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $26.14 billion, a PE ratio of 29.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

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.