Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 3,731,412 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 12.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,731,412 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 4.71% of PPL worth $1,115,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of PPL by 5.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,215,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,941 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of PPL by 6.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,160,760,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,122 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,177,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $566,275,000 after acquiring an additional 201,417 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of PPL by 0.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 25.3% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189,339 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value of $314,680.35. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,107.90. This trade represents a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PPL Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of PPL opened at $32.29 on Friday. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $25.35 and a twelve month high of $35.15. The company has a market cap of $23.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.11.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.97%.

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.