Allianz Asset Management GmbH Boosts Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 780,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,339 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.11% of PPL worth $25,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL during the third quarter valued at approximately $345,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 81,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 13,297 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 3,322.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 212,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,421,000 after purchasing an additional 206,216 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 35.4% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 48,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 12,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 4.2% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 60,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.82 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.78. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.87 and a 52 week high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,633 shares of company stock valued at $346,657 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.