Balyasny Asset Management LLC Takes Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Balyasny Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL – Get Rating) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,491,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $37,804,000. Balyasny Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of PPL at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the first quarter valued at $27,000. CI Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 989.9% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 56.3% during the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the second quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 70.6% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. 70.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TheStreet downgraded PPL from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on PPL to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Barclays assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.38.

PPL Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE PPL opened at $26.99 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $23.47 and a 12 month high of $31.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $28.70 and its 200 day moving average is $28.18. The stock has a market cap of $19.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20 and a beta of 0.77.

PPL (NYSE:PPL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28. PPL had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 54.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 93.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, insider David J. Bonenberger sold 29,080 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $872,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,180. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

PPL Company Profile

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PPL Corp. engages in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. It operates through the two reportable segments: Kentucky Regulated & Pennsylvania Regulated. The Kentucky Regulated segment consists of LKE’s regulated electricity generation, transmission and distribution operations of Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company as well as regulated distribution and sale of natural gas of Louisville Gas and Electric Company.