UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Acquires 410,570 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 626.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 476,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 410,570 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in PPL were worth $15,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 43.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 36,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 11,089 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in PPL by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 110,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,666,000 after purchasing an additional 15,576 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in PPL by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 21,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in PPL during the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in PPL by 109.3% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 121,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,004,000 after buying an additional 63,218 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.27.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $35.03 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.26. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.93 and a 52 week high of $35.91. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $25.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.95, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. PPL’s payout ratio is 90.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $47,675.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,951.32. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.