Bridgewater Associates LP Makes New $22.86 Million Investment in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 704,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $22,856,000. Bridgewater Associates LP owned 0.10% of PPL at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners grew its position in PPL by 8,266.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,060,000 after purchasing an additional 9,404,382 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth $228,509,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at $147,480,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in PPL by 12.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after buying an additional 3,731,412 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in PPL by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $891,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,745 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $35.37 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.52. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.93 and a 52 week high of $36.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $26.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at $376,951.32. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.70.

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.