PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) Shares Acquired by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 1.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 519,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,263 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in PPL were worth $18,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 141.0% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in PPL by 94.3% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in PPL during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in PPL by 1,057.6% during the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AllSquare Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PPL. Barclays raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $36.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total value of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 45,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,633,781.60. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:PPL opened at $36.04 on Thursday. PPL Corporation has a 12-month low of $29.60 and a 12-month high of $36.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 9.14%. PPL’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.74%.

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.