Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Invests $28.26 Million in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 870,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,261,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.12% of PPL at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 8,266.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $309,060,000 after purchasing an additional 9,404,382 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $228,509,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,480,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $891,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its position in PPL by 182.2% during the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 3,951,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $128,254,000 after acquiring an additional 2,551,070 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PPL shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.90.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $36.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.90. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $27.24 and a 1 year high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. PPL’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

PPL Company 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.