Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. Takes Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 20,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $664,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its position in PPL by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 28,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in PPL by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 78,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 37,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PPL. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim upped their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.90.

PPL Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $35.49 on Friday. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $27.24 and a twelve month high of $36.70. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $35.18 and its 200 day moving average is $33.96. The company has a market cap of $26.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 80.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PPL Company 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.