US Bancorp DE increased its stake in PPL Corporation by 9.4% during the first quarter, now holding 94,242 shares valued at approximately $3.40 million. The institutional investor acquired an additional 8,065 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE's holdings in PPL were worth $3,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of PPL in the 1st quarter worth about $203,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,207 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 704,750 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,449,000 after buying an additional 14,308 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of PPL in the 1st quarter worth about $181,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc lifted its position in PPL by 30.6% in the 1st quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 63,887 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,307,000 after purchasing an additional 14,951 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. In other PPL news, COO sold 2,165 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total transaction of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 45,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,633,781.60. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an 'overweight' rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays raised shares of PPL from a 'hold' rating to a 'strong-buy' rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a 'buy' rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, raised shares of PPL from a 'sell' rating to a 'hold' rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of 'Buy' and an average target price of $36.70. PPL Trading Up 0.0% traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $36.38. 3,591,932 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,110,328. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.59. PPL Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $29.97 and a fifty-two week high of $36.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.64. The firm's 50 day moving average is $34.73 and its 200-day moving average is $34.72. PPL ( - ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.05). PPL had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 8.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year. PPL Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. PPL's payout ratio is presently 81.34%. 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.

US Bancorp DE Acquires 8,065 Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

US Bancorp DE increased its stake in PPL Corporation by 9.4% during the first quarter, now holding 94,242 shares valued at approximately $3.40 million. The institutional investor acquired an additional 8,065 shares. Other hedge funds also adjusted their positions, with Harbour Investments Inc. lifting its stake by 16.0%, Natixis Advisors LLC increasing its holdings by 2.1%, and Vestcor Inc. raising its position by 30.6%. Insiders own 0.28% of PPL's stock, with the COO selling 2,165 shares at $35.86 per share. Wall Street analysts have issued various ratings, including Morgan Stanley's 'overweight' and Barclays' 'strong-buy' ratings. PPL reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing estimates, and announced a $0.2725 quarterly dividend with a 3.0% yield. The company has a market cap of $26.90 billion and operates in the U.S. energy sector serving 3.6 million customers across Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and Rhode Island.