New York Life Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 799 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $3,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in PPL by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after buying an additional 51,366 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,935,000 after purchasing an additional 96,491 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after purchasing an additional 55,594 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the 3rd quarter worth $1,218,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the 3rd quarter worth $916,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Up 2.2 %

PPL opened at $35.23 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.88. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.87 and a 52 week high of $35.28. The company has a market capitalization of $26.01 billion, a PE ratio of 29.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,633 shares of company stock valued at $346,657 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PPL shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.27.

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.