PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Bought by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 25.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,405 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of PPL by 179.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 90.7% in the 4th quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 31,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 15,083 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 2,647.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 155,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,203,000 after buying an additional 149,442 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in PPL by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 453,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,324,000 after buying an additional 9,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in PPL by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 202,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,490,000 after buying an additional 1,495 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPL Stock Down 0.4 %

PPL stock opened at $26.63 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $19.64 billion, a PE ratio of 26.63, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.07. PPL Co. has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $29.03.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. PPL had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 8.45%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PPL. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.50.

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.