Natixis Advisors L.P. Acquires 311,408 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 432.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 383,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 311,408 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in PPL were worth $10,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 179.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $28.52 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.51. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $28.92. The firm has a market cap of $21.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. Analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. TheStreet downgraded shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.27.

About PPL

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.