Wellington Management Group LLP Decreases Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 32,060,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,029,231 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,040,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in PPL by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 36,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,217,000 after buying an additional 11,089 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 5.0% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 21,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in PPL by 5.6% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 162,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,361,000 after purchasing an additional 8,534 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in PPL by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 128,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in PPL by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 10,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $36.16 on Tuesday. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.93 and a 1 year high of $36.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $34.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PPL. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. 0.22% of the stock is 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.