Mackenzie Financial Corp Sells 21,505 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Mackenzie Financial Corp lowered its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 510,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 21,505 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in PPL were worth $16,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 84.5% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC acquired a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. 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 price target 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. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment 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.com, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.90.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.13. PPL Co. has a one year low of $27.24 and a one year high of $36.70.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.74%.

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.